


Fortune City Survivor Stories

by The_Head_In_Charge



Series: My Dead Rising stories [2]
Category: Dead Rising
Genre: Anthology, Backstory, Brotherly Bonding, Caught in a Bad Situation, Dangerous infatuation, Dead Rising 2 Psychopaths, Dead Rising 2 Survivors, Dead Rising Psychopaths, Dead Rising Survivors, Drabble Collection, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen, Infatuation, Marriage, Minor Character(s), Mother-Daughter Relationship, One Shot Collection, Other, Survival, Survivors, What Could Have Been, psychopaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2020-09-19 07:09:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 58,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20327146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Head_In_Charge/pseuds/The_Head_In_Charge
Summary: Anthology about the Dead Rising 2 survivors and the stuff they had gone through and what happens in the safe house.Note: I wrote most of these chapters years ago. I started it in 2012. This is just known as "Survivor Stories" on Fanfiction.net.





	1. Survivors of Psychopaths

**Author's Note:**

> This is an anthology of the Dead Rising 2 survivors. I must note some things. I wrote a lot of these chapters a long time ago. You might see the difference in styles when you get to the later ones. I have grown as a writer over time and I might fix a few things here and there.
> 
> I also must note that there are a few chapters that I am not really fond of doing. If you want to know, just ask in a comment. Hope you enjoy them.

In a room in the safe house that is located adjacent to the Royal Flush Plaza, there sits Danni Bodine, along with Cinda Smith, Jasper Sanford, and Ray Teller. All four shared a common issue: They were held hostage by some really crazy people. They got themselves acquainted with each other and started having a discussion about what they had gone through. Jasper and Ray weren't exactly held hostage but were sort of witnesses or connected to what had happened.

"Danni?" said Jasper, wanting to try to talk to Danni, who looked very shaken earlier on. "Why are you wearing a wedding dress? Were you going to get married or something?"

"Something like that," Danni said, as she turned her head because she feels very reluctant in sharing her story. "I was kidnapped by some really crazy guy. One minute I was walking around Fortune Park, the next minute I wake up in a wedding dress and this creepy fat guy, who was wearing some S&M stuff, started calling me "Honey" and all that stuff, he got all fresh with me, started touching my body. I couldn't stand it. It was awful."

"Did you know him?" said Cinda, who seems really shocked at this whole thing.

"No, I didn't," said Danni, who then looked like she was about to cry again, even though she cleaned off some of the smeared eye shadow from earlier. "He had me tied up, he dragged me to the Swept Away Wedding Chapel. He had his father, who was a minister and owner of the chapel, tied up and tried to get him to marry us. He even brought along the corpse of one of his past brides. I was so scared. He had a really big chainsaw. Then Chuck came in and fought him. The dead bride turned into a zombie and then killed him. I never imagined my wedding day to be like that."

"That sounds awful," said Jasper, who is shocked over the whole thing.

"Wait until you hear what I went through," said Cinda. "Jasper and I were in the middle of the food court that was by the Slot Ranch Casino and were on top of some of the eateries over there. I went into Cucina Donnacci to get some more food to feed us to survive. I was then captured by Chef Antoine Thomas."

"Wait, do you mean the guy who owns Antoine's? I have heard about that guy." Said Ray.

"Yes, but he then put me in the freezer," said Cinda. "He was cooking human flesh. I even noticed a pot full of fingers and such. It was horrible. I don't think he worked there either, I think he was there to cook up something. I have a feeling he cooked up some of the employees."

"This guy was a cannibal?" Danni asked.

"Perhaps," said Cinda, shaken over having to share her story. "I think he was just staying in there to hide from the zombies. I wouldn't be surprised if he killed some of the zombies and cooked up. He was really crazy."

Jasper added something, "Damn, Cinda, I know all the shit you had to go through was crazy, but just be glad that you're safe. Chuck saved both of us from the outbreak and that nutcase."

Jasper hugged Cinda in the process.

"Man, and I thought that the guy who I had an encounter with was crazy." Ray decided to add his input to the discussion.

"What happened with you?" Danni asked, wiping off some of her tears and some of the smeared eye shadow.

"I was in the Fortune City Hotel," Ray said. "You know, the one with the mall that's still under construction. There was this mall cop who was like obsessed with Western movies. He had found some survivors taking refuge in some of the stores that were under construction and hung them. He claimed that they were trespassers. He carried a lasso and six-shooter gun. He also wore a cowboy hat. I swear, this guy was nuts. He called himself a sheriff. When Chuck heard me yelling, I thought that the mall cop was going to go after him and kill him."

"Damn," Jasper said, shocked at everyone's stories. "I did not think that some of the survivors of this outbreak would just snap like this."

"I still can't believe I was almost going to marry that…thing," Danni said. "I felt bad for the guy's dad who was killed by his own son, though it was an accident. I still want to get married someday but not like that."

"Do you have a boyfriend, Danni?" Cinda asked.

"Not anymore," Danni said. "We broke up a few months ago, I'm just trying to enjoy single life right now and then this happened."

"Well, all that matters is that we're safe from what's going on out there," said Ray, who is still relieved over what has happened. "Chuck has a lot of balls going out there and saving people and fighting off zombies."

"I will say this, I thought Chuck was going to kill me when I saw him," said Cinda.

"Wait, what?" Jasper said out of confusion.

"I saw the report on TV saying that the guy who started the outbreak and it said that it was him," said Cinda. "But I guess I was wrong, he has saved a lot of people. I can't imagine him killing innocent people."

"I don't know about you," said Danni, who got up from the bench she was sitting on. "But I need to go wash my face a bit. I'll be in the bathroom."

She then gets up and Jasper is looking at her a certain way, which then catches Cinda's attention. "Jasper, what are you doing?"

Jasper then turns over to Cinda. "Oh, nothing."

"Sure…" said Cinda, in a very sarcastic tone. "I see the way you are looking at her. Don't even try, she had gone through a lot."

However, Ray is glancing at Cinda, like he is maybe attracted to her something, which then catches Jasper's attention. Jasper didn't say anything, though he gave him a suspicious look.

I know what guy is up to. Jasper thought to himself. He is not jealous, but he feels like he might need to talk to Ray about this.


	2. The In-Laws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack Ellis and Kenneth Walsh.

Jack and Kenneth stare at each other in a room. Jack looks at his father-in-law with confusion as to why he dislikes his own son-in-law so much. Kenneth still can't stand the sight of Jack.

"I can't believe Kazmina married without telling me," Kenneth said, standing next to a wall with a look of disdain on his face. "Also, I can't believe she married a loser like you."

Jack, starting to look up at him more and then takes off his knight helmet. "Mr. Walsh, Kenneth, I love your daughter so much and I can't imagine my life without her. I had never felt this way about anybody and I can't imagine being with anybody else except her. I just want you to accept that we love each other."

"Forget this, fatty!" Kenneth yelled. "My Kazmina had a much better man before you came along. She was with this guy who was an all around athlete. Really good shape, treated her right, I don't know why they broke up. She would have been better off with him than with your pansy ass!"

"Who, Justin?" Jack replied. "Kazmina told me a lot about him. She told him that he treated her like shit for the most part, cheated on her, abused her. Yes, they were together for a long time and they were together in high school and in their college years, but she even told me that she hated being with him."

"I know Kazmina well," said Kenneth, with a look of disbelief. "She seemed very happy with Justin. Shit, 'son-in-law,' Justin even talked to me about the concept of marriage. Me and that kid got along well."

"Maybe you two did," Jack said, not backing down from this argument. "But I had gotten to know Kazmina for the years that we've been together. She hated being abused and cheated on, before she broke up with him, that is when I met the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen. My wife, your daughter, she thought that my nerdiness was the cutest thing ever. She dumped Justin like the trash that he is."

"Okay, I can see where you are coming from now," Kenneth said, starting to calm down a bit. "But she still could have picked someone a lot better than you. What kind of loser wears a knight helmet?"

"I just so happen to be a fan of video games," Jack says, knowing that it's not good enough to try to get Kenneth to accept him. "I happen to also be a fan of Capcom video games and this helmet has to do with Arthur, the main character of 'Ghosts and Goblins' and it's collector's item."

Kenneth still isn't changing his views on Jack. "Whatever, geek. I wanted my baby to be happy and I want to be happy for her, but I am not happy for her because she deserves way better than you, you pansy. You didn't even bother trying to fight off those zombies in the Palisades Mall. I was doing most of the fight before that one guy came in and saved us. That boy Chuck seems like more of a man than you."

Jack can't believe what he's hearing and sighs in derision. "Don't bring that guy in this. Chuck saved you, too. He even gave me something to defend myself with. I still held my own on our way here. You'd be dead too if it wasn't for him."

"At least I tried fighting them zombies," Kenneth responded. "I am an old man, I've seen a lot of things and I have lived a full life and I wasn't afraid to fight all them zombies and what did you do? Cower in the corner like the pantywaist that you are."

Though Jack is being verbally abused by his father-in-law, he is taking all of it very well. "I was scared. It's only natural to be scared. I'm sure that a lot of the other people I see around here were scared of the zombies. Like I said, I still fought some of the zombies on our way here."

Jack was not giving up trying to get Kenneth to warm up to him a little. Kenneth just sits on a chair with his arms crossed, still trying to fight off Jack's attempts to try to bond with him or to try to get him to stop disliking him.

Jack added, "Look, I know that you said that you don't care if you die and all that stuff, but Kazmina would be crushed if you died. She loves you very much. She knows that you don't like me. I know that you don't like me, but all I want from you is to accept that we love each other. We don't have to be friends, you don't have to like me, but what I really want is for you to have some kind of respect for me. I have a lot of respect for you. I have never said anything bad about you. Your wife loves me, I know that. She thinks that I am good for Kazmina and she had never seen her daughter so happy after months of us dating each other."

Kenneth is trying to hold back any kind of response because he still doesn't want to listen to Jack.

"Forget this," Jack said, tired of trying to reason with Kenneth. "I tried my best. I'm going to find someone to play poker with. I think I noticed that some poker pros are here as well. Maybe I can try playing with them to help get my mind off of this."

As Jack walks out of the door to the room that both he and Kenneth are in, Kenneth looks up and starts thinking about what his son-in-law was saying.


	3. Spicing Up Marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon tries to make things up to his wife LaShawndra.

Gordon and LaShawndra sit on a couch in a room trying to talk about what had happened when the outbreak started. Gordon felt really bad about abandoning his own wife like he did.

"I am very sorry for running off like that, honey," Gordon said with his head down. "I was really scared. You know how scared I can be."

LaShawndra looks at him with sympathy. "Gordon, I know that you are a very fearful man. You are not like the other men I have been with before I met you. I love you so much, you know that. I loved you because you are different."

Gordon looks up at LaShawndra. "I know, I love you, too. I just got really scared. I know I'm a coward and I messed up out there. What matters is that we are safe."

LaShawndra adds, "If you didn't run off like that, who would have protected you? We're lucky that guy Chuck saved us before other of us could have been killed. Besides, I am the one who always has to protect you, remember?"

Gordon started to cry a bit and LaShawndra puts her arms around him. "There there, Gordon, it's okay, if you want, I can give you some lovin' right now. It might make you feel better."

Gordon immediately looks up at the idea of doing that. "But honey, where would we go do it?"

"Do you see any of the other survivors in this room?" LaShawndra asked, pointing out that they are both alone in that room. "Besides, we can lock the door, after we're done, we'll unlock it if any other survivors want to come in here."

Gordon still feels rather skeptical about the idea of the two having sex to make him feel better. Gordon tells LaShawndra that he should give it some thought. He then opens the door to see if it's likely that anybody would walk in on them. He only sees a few of them just sitting on the floor and standing around. The other survivors that he saw are just focused on their own things.

Gordon also remembers that he left his condoms at the hotel. "Oh, shit."

"What is it, baby?" LaShawndra said.

"I don't have condoms with me." Gordon said, while standing and slapped his forehead.

"Now now, Mama came prepared." LaShawndra opened up her purse and took out some of the condoms she had.

Gordon smiles. "Ah, thank you, baby, I love you so much." Gordon hugs LaShawndra. He then gets up and locks the door so that they can do their thing.

After they were done, Gordon opens the door and notices that it had seemed that nobody noticed that the two had sex in the room. The other survivors just went along with what they were doing before. Gordon then quickly gets out of the room with the used condom in his hand and heads straight for the restroom and goes right into the stall and flushes it down the toilet. He then washes his hands afterwards. Right when he was getting out, Elrod walks into the bathroom and does the same thing. Gordon gives him a weird look.

"What are you looking at?" Elrod asks Gordon with a weird look similar to what Gordon had on his face.

"Oh, nothing," Gordon said as he walked off.

"Man, me and the wife have been bored and we decided to just do whatever," Elrod said. "Man, she a freak. That is why I married her."

"Uh, that's nice," Gordon said, kind of feeling awkward and started to walk away a bit.

"Yes, sir," Elrod said. "I tell ya what, my wife is quite the freak. We were going at it like crazy, even crazier than usual. Man, this entire outbreak made her freakier than before, man."

"Uh, that is great that you two have a good sex life," Gordon said, feeling a little uneasy.

"Hey, I saw that woman you were with," Elrod added after washing his hands. "Does she ever swing around? I have always wanted me a big lady. She seems like she can do work like no other woman can. You can try my wife, it's okay."

"Um, no thank you," Gordon said as he got closer to the restroom door.

"Why not?" Elrod said. "She always told me that she wanted to experience other types of men. She kind of has a thing for wimpy men, you seem like the type. We have an open marriage, so it's okay with me. She won't bite, I promise."

"I said I'll pass," Gordon said, as he shifted his eyes towards the door. "My wife is all the passion I need. Thanks, but not thanks."

"Okay, sir, but you don't know what you're missing," Elrod said. "If you want to, just let me know. Also, talk to your lady about me. Maybe I can show her a few things."

Gordon started to walk out the door. "I will keep that in he mind." Gordon said, not meaning anything by it.

Gordon walks back into the room where LaShawndra is. LaShawndra looks at him with confusion. "Gordon, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong," Gordon said, trying to brush off what he had just heard in the restroom.

"Don't lie to me, Gordon," LaShawndra said, going forth and trying to get something out of him. "I know that look on your face. Something is definitely wrong."

"It's really no big deal," Gordon said, still trying to brush it off. "It's just that a guy in here has been checking you out."

"Really?" LaShawndra said, rather amazed. "Who is it?"

"Some redneck guy who I saw around here," Gordon replied. Gordon then sits on the couch.

"Wow, I never knew that guys like that have a thing for big and strong women like myself," LaShawndra said, rather flattered at what Gordon had told her. "Wait, doesn't he already have a wife? I could have sworn that I saw him with a girl."

Gordon leans back with his forearm on his forehead. "He told me that they are in an open marriage, so I guess they swing."

LaShawndra starts to laugh a bit. "Wait, so they're swingers, they do whatever they want with other people yet they're still married?" She laughs some more. "Gordon, you're the only one that can satisfy me, even though I mostly do the work, but when you see that guy, tell him I'm not interested. I mean I'm flattered that he has his eye on me, but you're the only one I can handle. I don't need no other guys."

Gordon smiles and then hugs and kisses his wife after hearing what she had said.

"Besides, that guy seems dirty, anyway," LaShawndra said while still hugging Gordon. "He looks like he hasn't showered in weeks. If I see him, I'll tell him no, okay, babe?"

"No, I think I can do it myself," said Gordon as he faces LaShawndra. "It's okay. Besides, we have each other and our beautiful children who I know we will see again after this whole outbreak shit blows over and we're saved."

"Yes, I just hope we see them again soon," LaShawndra said. "My sister is taking care of them. I think I should call her to see how they are doing."


	4. The Nerds and the Women

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quartet of nerds find themselves in a bind when they are around women.

Being in the safe house is proving to be a bit difficult for Brian, Curtis, John, and Kevin. It wasn't because they didn't like being there or anything like that. It wasn't because they couldn't stand to be in one place for a few days. It is mainly because they are around a lot of women.

The guys don't have a lot of luck with the opposite gender. When Chuck came to rescue them from their own little shelter, they immediately followed him once he saw that he had Vikki Taylor with him, who he had rescued previously from a really whacked out person. It didn't help that a few female survivors in the safe house didn't wear much or were in rather revealing outfits.

They couldn't stop staring at Kristin and Europa, both of whom wore little, even though Kristin's outfit was that of a showgirl, while Europa was in her underwear because of some mishap that she went through. Same went for Linette, who was in a bikini because she tanned but got burned a little. Despite her sunburned skin, the guys got a little breathless even looking at her as well.

Even other women like Cora, Nina, and Summer proved to be a bit of a challenge for the quartet. It's hard for them not to get all hot and bothered with those three wearing revealing outfits. It was like that with Lulu, whose Playboy Bunny outfit was of no help. Same with Terri, the construction worker, whose outfit was of no help either for the four nerds. They felt a little more comfortable talking to her friend Willa, though she was still a little stressed out from earlier, but was still nice to them.

The four nerds had their board game with them that they played in the Fortune City Hotel. In order to get their minds off the tension and sensation that they got from the women were laughing a little at them, as well as feeling awkward from them.

"Wow, I have never seen a lot of beautiful girls," said John, who had his goggles on his forehead. "I feel like we're all in heaven."

Brian looks up and senses that he may be wrong about this. "I don't know about that, John. Some of those girls we saw out there looked at us sort of funny. I know we all looked at those hot women like that beautiful showgirl, same with that other beautiful woman who looked like she was in her underwear. I think we made them uncomfortable."

"Most of the girls looked at me the weirdest," said Curtis, who isn't sure why.

"Some of them looked at John funny," said Kevin. "They didn't look at me or Brian funny, at least as not as weird as the way they were looking at you two." Referring to John and Curtis.

"Yes, but they have to deal with us until we all get out of here," said Brian, while looking at some of the cards for their game. "Man, those three women were hot. I'm talking about that one with the cowboy hat and that white coat and her two friends. I think they kind of chuckled when they saw us."

"Those girls don't know anything," John said, still trying to play his part in the game. "I am a nice guy, but each and every time we see a girl, they always laugh at us, or they feel weird around us. I don't understand."

Out of nowhere, Jared, another survivor walks into the room where the nerds are hanging out in. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know that this room was taken."

"Don't worry about it," Curtis said, then turns his attention to the game. "You want to play? We could use a fifth guy."

"No, that's okay," Jared said. "I'll just stand here and just hang out."

"Okay, but you're welcome to join us," Brian said and then looks up at Jared. "Hey, I saw you talking to a few women earlier. What's your secret?"

"There is no secret," Jared said, while standing by the door. "I just happen to know how to talk to the ladies. I see a few fine ones out there."

"So did we," Kevin said to Jared. "However, they looked at all four of us funny."

Jared takes a closer look at them. "No offense you guys, but I can kind of see why."

"Why?" Brian said, as he holds his cards.

"Well, the way you guys are dressed, that's a start," Jared said. "Don't take this the wrong way." Jared looks at Curtis. "Seriously, what the hell are you wearing? What kind of guy dresses like a Japanese school girl?" He then looks at John. "What are you, some mad scientist?" Looks over at Brian and Kevin. "You guys don't have a bad fashion sense compared to these two," referring to John and Curtis. "However, you could dress a little better."

Brian, Curtis, John, and Kevin all look at the way they are dressed and realize why all the women they saw looked at them funny. However, despite how they are dressed, they decided they wanted to try to talk to some of them to see if they want to get to know some of them. They realized if they stare too long, it gets really creepy, so they thought it would be best to try to get acquainted with them.

The four walk out of the room, while Jared just stands by the door and takes a closer look at the game board and cards they left lying around.

They across an area where the three bodyguards Cora, Summer, and Nina, as well as Europa and Kristin were hanging out at. The five women looked at them trying to hold back some impeding laughter.

"Hi," Brian said with the other three guys with them. "We just want to know if any of you would to sit down and chat with us. We won't bite or anything."

Europa looks over at Kevin, "Hey, I think you're cute. What's your name?"

Kevin starts to feel a little shy towards Europa, it did not help one bit being that she is in her bra and panties. "Uh, my name is… Kevin."

"Kevin, huh?" Europa said, who smiled at him. "You seem really shy. I am shy, too. I still feel funny being in here in my underwear."

"Uh, yeah," Kevin said, while starting to turn red and couldn't help but glance at her body.

Brian mainly tries to talk to Cora. "I think you are a very beautiful woman. Your friends are, too. I am just wondering if you would be up to playing a game with us."

"You know," Cora said, thinking he is not so bad after all. "My new friend Kristin and I were talking about playing a game of poker. Maybe you guys would like to join us?"

"Oh, we were thinking…" Brian said.

"…That it's a good idea." John said, who cuts off Brian in mid-sentence. "We wouldn't mind playing a game with you."

Brian takes John out of their range for a little bit. "What are you doing?" He whispered.

"They talked about playing a game," John said. "This could be our chance."

"I talked about us playing the game we brought," Brian replied. "You know?"

"No, let's play poker with them," John said. "Besides, those woman are freakin' hot! We can not pass this up." Brian agrees to it and turns over to the women.

"We'll play," Brian said. "What kind of poker game are we playing?"

"Oh, we're just playing regular poker, like 'Texas Hold 'Em,'" Kristin said, who smiled a bit. "For now, anyway." Kristin winked.

The four guys agreed.

Nina leans over towards Summer. "The black nerd is kind of cute. He reminds me of Urkel."

"He reminds me of him, too," Nina said. "The scientist one isn't so bad, but he could look a whole lot better without those clothes and glasses."

The two started to chuckle. Brian, John, and Curtis joined the four girls on their little poker game.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Europa started to talk more. Kevin still felt a little uneasy being around her. She was really attracted to him, but for some reason, Kevin had a hard time believing it and was trying to think of ways to make the situation better for him.

"So, Kevin," Europa said, while getting a little closer to him. "So what happened with you and your friends? How did you guys get caught up in the middle of the zombie apocalypse?"

Kevin said shyly, "Well, me and my friends were just playing a board game in the middle of the Fortune City Hotel mall that is under construction. We were in a store just minding our own business until we got rescued by Chuck Greene. We were told that some girls are here. We went with him."

"Oh, isn't that cute?" Europa said. "I, too, was found in the Fortune City Hotel, only difference was that I got locked out of my room when I went to get ice. By the way, I think you're very handsome. I kind of like the way you're dressed."

Kevin is trying so hard not to look at Europa's half-naked body. It's hard not to for him, especially when he has a very attractive woman who seems interested in him.

Brian, John, and Curtis all play poker with Cora, Summer, Nina, and Kristin. They seem to get some upper hands in their game.

"Damn, where did you learn how to play?" Cora said to John.

"Video poker," John said. "I didn't think it would help, but it certainly did."

They all continue to play their game.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuart Holmes has a bone to pick with Chuck, as he doesn't trust him in the least bit.

Stuart is sitting right by the main room where Stacey and Katey are in. He and Brittany, a co-worker of his, look through one of the windows and notices that Stacey has the news on with some more reports about the outbreak and it still says that Chuck is the culprit behind the outbreak.

"I don't trust that guy one bit," Stuart says very suspiciously. "I bet he is planning something bigger with all of us in here. I think that guy is crazy."

Brittany looks at Stuart. "What are you saying? If he really is behind the outbreak, he would have killed us, too. Remember, he brought us both here. He did not seem like he was going to hurt us. He only fought you a bit because you got a little out of hand."

"I still don't trust him," Stuart said, he looks around and sees other survivors and they're just minding their own businesses. "I might have to talk to some of these people around here. They might see the light. I really think Chuck is behind the outbreak."

"What makes you so sure?" Brittany added. "If he really is a terrorist, both you and I would be dead, too."

"Before we started looting, the news kept on saying that Chuck Greene is the man behind the outbreak," Stuart said. "I think I may need to tell everyone that this man is not to be trusted."

"Stuart, don't," Brittany said, think that Stuart is getting a little carried away with his thoughts.

"Why the hell not," Stuart asked, after he got up. "These people need to know the real truth."

"You can't prove anything," Brittany said. "Like I told you, we wouldn't be seeing any other people in here if that guy is really a terrorist."

Stuart is not listening to Brittany. He went ahead on his plan. "Hey everyone around here, listen up. Do you guys feel like you can trust Chuck Greene?"

He calls attention to a lot of survivors, like Kristin, Denyce, Terri, Willa, Woodrow, Trixie-Lynn, Elrod, Cinda, Jasper, and some others. They wondered what this guy is up to.

"Listen, everyone," Stuart said. "I watched the news earlier and I think that Chuck Greene isn't the hero that everyone thinks he is. I believe he is the man behind the outbreak. I think he brought us all here because he might be planning something worse for all of us."

The other survivors look at each other with confusion. Cinda, on the other, feels like she might agree with him. She didn't trust Chuck initially, but she is starting to think that Stuart is right about Chuck. Trixie-Lynn and Elrod are looking at him and Elrod adds that he was at the Fortune City Arena when the outbreak started and were in one of the dressing rooms trying to protect themselves from the zombies.

"I want all of you to know this," Stuart kept on rambling about Chuck to the other survivors. "I am onto this guy. I don't trust him. He tricked me and Brittany out of our worker's compensation and now I think he is the one behind all of this shit that we got ourselves into."

The other survivors are getting more riled up and are wondering if he is right about this whole thing. Meanwhile, Stacey looks out the window of the office that she and Katey are in and this whole thing Stuart started catches her attention.

"What the hell is going on here," Stacy asked. She then gets up out of her chair. Katey asks where she is going. Stacey tells her that she is going to talk some sense to Stuart.

"What the hell is going on here?" Stacey said, as she approaches Stuart and his mob of people.

"I want everyone here to know that Chuck Greene is a fraud and how we shouldn't trust that guy," Stuart said to Stacey. "I just saw that news report a little while ago and it says that he is the one who started the outbreak."

"Please, Chuck is innocent," Stacey said. "He told me that he didn't do it and that someone who wore his Terror Is Reality outfit was the one who set off that bomb. None of you would be alive if it wasn't for him."

"We'll see about that," Stuart said, with the other survivors behind him. "I would like to have a word with him. He might have to explain some shit to me."

"Chuck is out there trying to look for more survivors to bring back here," Stacey said. "He would have killed all of you if he was behind the outbreak. I believe him. He is not the one behind the outbreak."

"Bring him here, now!" Stuart yelled with so much force. "I need to talk to him myself. He better come here or else all of us will be out of here."

Stacey could not believe what she heard. She went back into the office and picked up the walkie-talkie to contact Chuck.

"Chuck, it's Stacey," Stacey said.

"What's going on Stacey," Chuck said. "How's Katey doing?'

"Katey's fine, but I need you to come down here right away," Stacey said.

"What's wrong?" Chuck asked, while walking around the Silver Strip.

"Stuart is trying to put together a mutiny of some sort," Stacey said. "He is trying to get the other survivors to walk out of here. He thinks you're the one who is behind the outbreak. I need you to talk to him."

Chuck couldn't believe this whole thing. "I am on my way. I also want to check on Katey to see how she is doing."

Chuck was now heading back to the safe house to talk to Stuart.


	6. Musical Worlds Collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel Lust and Bibi Love meet each other and a surprise occurs.

Jeanna Slick, Floyd Stone, and Allen Ash were in the cafeteria in the safe house discussing their future gigs and how their most recent gig was what they initially thought was a success, despite performing in front of a horde of zombies.

"I cannot believe we played for the undead," said Floyd, still a little shocked how the band performed in front of zombies. "I really thought we had a bunch of people rocking out to us, mate."

"Even though the audience was dead, love," said Jeanna. "No one has been more into our shows. Sure, when we played in London, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, all of our bloody fans went wild, but not as wild as them zombies."

"I disagree, Jeanna," Allen said, after drinking some water. "I thought some of our shows back home were even more tough. We played in front of a bunch of bloody zombies."

Jeanna doesn't quite agree with Allen's opinion, neither does Floyd. "I don't know, Allen. I thought it was crazy when Floyd smashed his guitar onto the stage and a lot of the zombies just blew up like that."

Bibi walks into the cafeteria and looks for something to drink because she is a little stressed after what she had gone through. She did not realize at first that she sang in front of a horde of zombies.

"Oh my, I cannot believe I sang in front lots of fans," Bibi said as she got out a bottle of water from the refrigerator in the cafeteria. "I can't believe my fans tried to eat me."

The members of Angel Lust look up at Bibi and then she looks over at the band.

"What are you looking at," Bibi asked the three musicians.

"Oh, nothing, love," Jeanna said, with Floyd and Allen looking at Bibi as well. "We heard you say that you sang in front of zombies. We performed in front of zombies as well."

"Really?" Bibi said. "You guys are singers too?"

Floyd corrects Bibi. "Actually, Jeanna here sings, I play guitar, and Allen is the bassist. We are Angel Lust."

"Angel Lust, huh?" Bibi said. "That's weird. I think I saw a poster of you guys out there on the Silver or Platinum Strip. I am a singer. I am making my comeback."

"Who are you, love?" Allen asked Bibi.

"I am Bibi Love," Bibi said while standing before the band. "I was once a well-known singer, but now I am back to make myself known again. I still have fans out there, I know it. I just had the performance of a lifetime in the Slot Ranch Casino. I owe it all to one man."

"Okay," Allen said, out of a lot of confusion.

"Wait, I think I know who you are," Jeanna said.

"You do?" Bibi asked.

"Yes, I do," Jeanna said. "Me mum had some of your records. I think I remember seeing some of her record collection and coming across your records when I was a little girl. I remember me mum going to a concert of yours in London. This was back in the 90s. I was really young then, but she loved you."

"Now that you mention it," Bibi said. "I think I do remember touring in the UK back in those days."

Bibi is a little flattered to hear that someone still remembers her. She can never let go of her old glory days.

"So I was wondering," Bibi said. "Does your mother still have my records?"

Jeanna responds. "I think she does. I have not spoken to me mum in a while since I have been touring with the band. It's been crazy lately. I used to listen to your records when I was a little girl."

Bibi could not be anymore delighted to hear that. Allen and Floyd look at each with a lot of confusion.

"Wait, Jeanna," Floyd stops Jeanna to tell her something. "What is the deal here? I thought you said that you were always into metal. We are a metal band, remember?"

"Floyd, I have liked other things when I was little," Jeanna responds. "I was little then. Me mum and me sister were fans of hers, and I enjoyed it, too."

Bibi is letting what she is hearing go to her head. It suddenly became an ego-boost for her, as if her ego was not high already.

"Oh my god, I can't believe it, I still have fans," Bibi said with a lot of glee. "I have an idea, why don't I do a song with you?"

"Excuse me," Allen said, shocked at what he had just heard.

"Oh, come on," Bibi said. "This might be a good opportunity for you. It would be like our worlds colliding musically. Bibi Love meets Angel Lust. Two worlds collide! What do you say?"

Floyd turns his head and doesn't know what to say. Jeanna isn't generally opposed to the idea, but she feels like she needs to add her input.

"Bibi, I wouldn't mind doing that," Jeanna said. "But why don't I sing a song with you and see where it might go or maybe have Floyd and Allen here provide guitar and bass to one of your songs. What do you think?"

"Hmmmm, doesn't bother me," Bibi said. "We could do a duet first and then maybe a full-on collaboration."

Bibi is boasting with so much excitement right then that she didn't know what to think anymore.

"I am about to go to the bathroom," Bibi said. "We'll talk more about this later. This is great, I can't believe this."

After Bibi left the cafeteria, Floyd and Allen try to talk to Jeanna about this idea she has.

"Jeanna, are you sure about this?" Allen asked.

"Yeah, I am up for trying new things, but this is crazy," Floyd said.

"Relax, mates," Jeanna said, feeling confident that she knows what she is doing. "I think this might be a good opportunity for us to explore different horizons within our sound. She is an old pop musician looking to come back. We are trying to make it in the US. We could do this. Besides, I was a fan of hers at one point."

"Okay, we'll do this," Floyd said.

"On one condition, though," Allen said. "She needs to calm down a little bit before doing this. Part of me thinks she is a little crazy."

"Relax, Allen," Jeanna said. "I would not let all of us down. We are a band. We are Angel Lust. We are going to take the US by storm."

Hearing Jeanna said that put smiles on Floyd and Allen's faces, despite the skepticism of performing with Bibi Love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Later on after I wrote this, I liked to think that it was only Jeanna who collaborated with Bibi, not the whole band. This was written many years ago like the previous ones.


	7. Andy and Tammy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy pondered why he felt something for Tammy enough to carry her after everything he went through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must note that this was an idea from someone back then on FFnet. I wrote it for him, but then I later wrote some follow-ups (And also a spin-off; you'll see).

Andy stood right beside a wall in a room with Tammy lying on a cot and Andy looked at her like he was thinking about something. He could not help but think about what he had went through before laying his eyes on her. He could not help but think of his suicidal tendencies and how he was thinking about killing himself before Chuck talked to him about life and how he should just go and think about what he was saying. Right after Andy joined Chuck, they went into the Atlantica Casino where they both came across Tammy, a beautiful redheaded girl who was dressed as a mermaid because she was a performer at that casino. Andy started thinking more about what had happened before.

_I felt that there was something worth living for when I saw her. When I took a look at her, I felt something for this girl. I don't know if it was because she was gorgeous or just lying there helpless with no way to move because of how she was dressed. Even though Chuck was helping both of us out and leading us to some place safe, I offered to carry her. I handed Chuck my shotgun so that he could help protect us. Chuck insisted that he carry her, but I insisted that I carry her because I didn't trust myself then with the shotgun. I could have shot myself for all I know._

_As I carried Tammy, we had introduced ourselves to each other. She had commented on how brave I was to carry her and while I seemed like I took it like it was nothing, I actually felt something for her. Just looking at her beautiful eyes made me realize that my life could be a lot worse than I thought before. After we got to the safe house, I had to find a room to lie her down. Chuck thanked me for helping, but I thanked him more for showing that life is worth living and finding out why._

Tammy looked up at Andy after a while and she started thinking as well.

_I don't know what it was that caused him to offer to carry me, but I am glad that he did. It seemed like a very brave thing for him to do considering that Chuck was brave enough to be out there rescuing people with thousands of zombies out there. I feel stupid for not having an extra change of clothes because I felt helpless when I was in the casino. It was very sweet of Andy to carry me like that. He seems like a really nice guy but I have a feeling that he hasn't lived a good life or maybe he has been through a lot lately._

_I think there might something more as to why Andy decided to carry me. Maybe he wanted to risk his life for someone? Maybe he is attracted to me? I really want to know._

Andy got closer to Tammy and started talking to her.

"How are you feeling," Andy asked her as he squatted near her.

"A little stiff because I can't move my legs," Tammy said. "But it's better than being out there. I could have been eating alive. I thank you for carrying me."

"Oh, it was nothing," Andy said, still trying to brush it off despite how he really feels.

"No, it doesn't seem like nothing," Tammy said, seeing right through Andy, even though he is trying to hide his true feelings. "What made you want to carry me? I am really curious. Did something happen to you before and suddenly change?"

Andy was reluctant to share his story but because Tammy was surprised and confused as to what had happened, he had no other choice but to share it.

"I dealt with a lot of zombies when I was out there," Andy said. "I tried to run and hide from them, but zombies were every where. I even had to use whatever was around me to fight them off. Some of the looters out there even jacked me. I was pissed off and I ran after one and kicked his ass and took one of his weapons, as well as the money he stole from me. I used the weapon on one of the zombies until it broke. I even took a few knives from Shanks and used them on them. I went up to the High-Noon Shooting Range and found weapons in there. I took a pistol and shot a few in the head, but it was no use. So I took a shotgun and packed a lot of ammo on me. No matter how hard I tried to fight off those zombies, more of them kept coming after me. So I thought maybe that I should kill myself."

Tammy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She started to feel a little emotional.

"That was when Chuck came and talked to me," Andy said. "We had a long talk about how I felt that life is not worth living anymore and he tried to talk me out of it. It was then I saw you and that's what made me feel like I was not alone out here. I wanted to carry you because you looked so helpless. I could not bear to see a girl like you get eaten alive."

Tammy started to pant a bit after hearing what Andy had said. "I thank you for doing what you did. I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything," Andy said, still trying to hold back his feelings.

"Yes, I do," Tammy said without hesitation. "If you hadn't done what you did, I would have been dead and so would you."

Andy could hold back his feelings any longer and started to hug Tammy.

"I am going back out there, Tammy," Andy said.

"I wouldn't go out there if I were you. Please, don't do that," Tammy yelled. "I don't want you to hurt yourself like you almost did."

"I will be fine," Andy said, trying to help ease her up. "I am just going out there to get you some clothes. I saw some stores out there. I just want you to change out of your mermaid outfit. I am just going out there and coming back. I am not afraid of those zombies."

Tammy doesn't think that Andy should do this, but understands why. "Okay, just come back safe. Make sure you get me some underwear."

Andy walked out of the room and tries to sneak past anybody around. He notices Sullivan talking to Stacey, so he thinks that this is the perfect chance to get out there and find some clothes for Tammy. He went right through the duct to get out of the bunker.

Tammy lied there and starts thinking some more about what they had talked about.

I can't believe that he is doing this. I know I had just met him, but I think I feel for him. The bravery and the trauma that he had been through, why am I getting these feelings for someone who I don't know? Though I want to know him more. I can see that there is some feeling he has for me, but I am starting to get some feeling for him.

Andy noticed a maintenance room nearby as he was walking through the hall. He saw a baseball bat and some nails.

_I saw that Chuck guy use something like this or some other kinds of weapons made from different things._

Andy put together a Spiked Bat to use against zombies while he was out looking for some clothes to give to Tammy.

Andy opened the door that goes into the Royal Flush Plaza and saw that some zombies were out there.

"Here goes nothing," Andy said. He yelled as he swung the Spiked Bat towards zombies. He even whacked a zombie right in the guy and hit the zombie over the head with it, killing it. After that, he ran towards Casual Gals to find some pants and some underwear. He only found some pants to give to her. He struggled to find some underwear but everything was scattered and could find anything.

Andy ran as fast as he could to wear he could find an escalator and ran up there and came across Kathy's Space and luckily found some underwear that he could give to Tammy. More zombies came out of nowhere but Andy picked up the cash registered and hit a couple of zombies in the head with it. More came into the store.

"Oh, to hell with this shit!" Andy said as he threw the cash register at the zombies, killing them in the process. Andy saw some money get out of the register and picked up the money. Andy also picked up a bag so that Tammy could put her mermaid fin in there after she changed.

Andy put the clothes in the bag and picked up the Spiked Bat and made a break for it. A lot of zombies were surrounding him, so he did the only he could do: jump over the railing.

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

Andy jumped over the railing. He landed on some zombies, so he was okay. He ran back to the safe house with the bag in his hand. He used the Spiked Bat on the way back to the safe house and killed a few zombies here and there. He was covered in blood but the blood was the least of his worries.

Meanwhile, back at the safe house, Tammy was still sitting in the room thinking about what Andy set out to do.

_I just hope he is safe. It's been a while since he took off. I just hope he is okay._

Andy went right through the door and raced to the duct to get into the safe house. He dropped the Spiked Bat in the process. He got inside and Sullivan was still talking to Stacey about what had been going on. Sullivan didn't suspect a thing. Andy casually walked back to the room where Tammy was in. Tammy was surprised to see that he was okay.

"I got these for you," Andy said. "I thought you might need them."

Tammy was so happy to see that he was okay. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Andy! You are really brave and awesome to do that!"

Tammy got closer to Andy and kissed him on the cheek. Andy was a little confused about this, but was happy that it happened because he does have some feeling for her.

They got apart and wondered what had happened. Andy told Tammy that it's okay and that he is happy that they kissed.

"Andy, may I ask for a favor?" Tammy asked.

"What is it?" Andy responded.

"Can you turn around a bit," Tammy asked. "I need to change my clothes."

"Oh, sure," Andy said as he turned around so that Tammy can change her clothes.

Tammy struggled to get out of her mermaid fin costume, but she is happy that she can walk now.

"Okay, you can turn around now," Tammy said as she stood up wearing the pants that Andy got for her.

Andy and Tammy looked at each other. Tammy could not thank Andy enough for what he had done for her.

"Andy," Tammy said. "I know that you have a lot of trauma but just be glad that you are safe. You have a lot of guts for going out there and getting these clothes for me."

"Please, I did a little more than that," Andy said. "Look at my clothes, all bloody and shit."

"It's okay, we're safe," Tammy said.

"Hey, Tammy," Andy said, feeling hesitant. "I want to know something."

"Sure, what is it?" Tammy asked, looking at Andy.

"When we get out of all this zombie shit," Andy said. "Do you want to go out sometime?"

"Oh, I would love to do that, Andy," Tammy said. "I really would. You are my hero and I would love for us to go on a date."

Andy started to smile when he heard her say that.

_I have not smiled in a while but this may be the beginning of some great._


	8. Mother and Daughter Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camille and Lillian reconcile about what happened out there.

Lillian sits in a room with her mother Camille and is ashamed to have argued with her about finding a safe place. Camille was really scared of all the zombies but she feels really bad for running off the way she did.

"Lillian, I could not begin to think how sorry I was for leaving you behind," Camille said, emotionally. "I know we could not agree to a place to be safe but I really don't know why I did what I did."

Lillian looks at her mother with the same feeling, except she is a lot more distraught over what had happened.

"Mom, I know that it was hard for us to find a safe place out there," Lillian said. "All that matters is that we are safe and no zombies will come and get us. You don't even want to know what I thought about doing if I had found out that you were dead."

"Oh, I know what you had thought about doing," Camille said. "It's a good thing that guy Chuck found me. I was worried sick about you."

"I was worried about you, too," Lillian said as she started to cry. "If I had known that you had died out there, I would not have felt the need to live anymore."

"How do you think I would have felt if I found out that you jumped off the roof?" Camille said. "I would have been heartbroken. I don't think I could go on living if I found out that you died."

They hug some more but are very emotionally distraught over what had happened.

Camille backed up a little from Lillian. "Just be glad that things are okay right now. We're both safe and we will get out of this very soon."

"I know we will, mom," Lillian said. "We need to talk more about why we got ourselves into that mess to begin with. I need to go to bathroom to go cool off a bit."

"Okay, I will wait right here," Camille said.

Lillian goes to the restroom and looks at herself in the mirror and realizes that what she had gone through was something bad. She knows that she has some emotional problems, enough that she contemplated committing suicide but deep down, she is glad that is still living. She starts thinking about what her mother said about how if she had found out that her own daughter was dead, she would be really devastated over it. She starts thinking back to what had happened before.

_Mom and I were in the Platinum Strip and tried to find refuge somewhere like the movie theater or the bar that was nearby. It wasn't safe for either of us, so we tried the Fortune City Arena but there were already hundreds of zombies in front of it. We would have been dead._

_So we tried to find other places that we thought could have been safe for both of us. We tried going into some of the casinos like the Americana and the Slot Ranch and there were lots of zombies in there as well. We tried going into the office of the Americana but it felt too small and there wasn't a lot of food for us in there to eat and going out to the steakhouse that close would have been dangerous. I was so scared to go out there and get some food. I suggested that we find somewhere else to hide from the zombies. She got mad because she didn't think there were better places for safety. I said that we should go the Slot Ranch Casino and so we did._

_The office was a little bigger and there was a food court nearby in case we got hungry. I thought that this place was better than the Americana Casino as there was better access to food and drinks if we got hungry and thirsty. However, Mom was starting to think that this place was not safe enough as she saw a zombie break right through the windows and door of the office. I remember seeing some assault rifles lying around and picked one up and shot a few zombies before dropping the gun when Mom told me that I should just run out of there with her. I didn't let go of the gun because there were zombies right in front of the main door of the casino. I shot a lot of them before the clip was emptied. We got out of the Slot Ranch Casino and ran as fast we could to an area where there weren't as many zombies and that was in Fortune Park by that rock fountain. We got into an argument about the places we decided on. I tried to tell her that we will find a safe place but she didn't want to listen to me. She got very stubborn and ran off into the Atlantica Casino._

_I couldn't believe that she did that and I cried as I went into the Fortune City Hotel. I was afraid that she had gotten eaten alive by the zombies and I was ready to die at that moment. I could not imagine my mom dying helplessly because sometimes she needs my help more than I need hers. I didn't want to lose her like I had lost my dad. It's been years since he died, but I still miss him. I would just die if I knew that she had died._

While Camille was waiting for Lillian to come back, she, too, started to think about what she and her daughter had gone through.

_I don't know how this zombie outbreak stuff happened, but I felt like Lillian tried to be a little bossy about what had been going on. I felt like she was trying to help because we had stared at death straight in the eye. We tried to find a lot of places to be safe at. The safest were a couple of casinos we had gone into, but that all changed when some zombies came right for us. It was hard for us to find a safe place for us to hide from the zombies but we tried our best._

_I tried to suggest another casino to hide in but Lillian disagreed. I tried to tell her that I had gone through some bad things all of my life and that I know what I am doing. I sometimes wonder if she thinks that I am careless and stubborn. I worry about her, too. She has emotional problems and I am not surprised that she was almost going to kill herself. She has had emotional problems ever since she was a teenager when my husband died. I remember she took her dad's death so hard that she couldn't go to school for a week. She is my only child and I am grateful that I have a great relationship with her._

_When I was in the Atlantica Casino, I started to worry about her a lot more than ever before. What if she had gone to go kill herself? I would be so lonely. She means the world to me._

Lillian came back to the room. Still a little distraught over what happened, but calmer than before. She then approached Camille and told her that she has calmed down.

"I am glad you are better, Lillian," Camille said, hugging her daughter once more. "I just want you to know that even though you are an adult, you will always be my little girl and I love you more than anything. I am just glad that we are both safe and is everything forgiven between us?"

"Everything is fine between us, Mom," Lillian said, after taking a deep breath. "We are going to make it out of this shit. We will. Trust me on this."

Things have worked out for them.


	9. Survivors of Psychopaths (continued)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part of chapter 1.

Jasper and Cinda continue to have their discussion about Jasper's attraction to Danni. Danni had stepped out for a moment to go wash her face. Cinda got a little bit on Jasper's case for checking out Danni a little bit. Ray went to go get some food in the cafeteria. He was going to come back. Also, Jasper explained to Cinda about his attraction and how there is a little more than meets the eye.

"Jasper, you don't even know her," Cinda said. "Besides, after what she had just told us, the last thing she wants is to do is deal with another guy. I mean I thought what I went through was creepy but this girl? Sounds like the creep had major issues."

Jasper responds quickly because there is a little more than just an instant attraction he has towards her. "I think I remember seeing her before, maybe even a few times."

"What do you mean exactly?" Cinda asked, because she is a little confused.

"I recognize her," Jasper said. "I remember a few months ago, there was this girl who had a little too much to drink when we were tending the bar one night. She looked like an emotional wreck. I think both of us were working the bar that very night. She looked very down and mentioned something about a breakup and had more than a few shots. I think that was Danni."

"Oh, I think I remember that," Cinda said with her memory being refreshed. "I think she was out with a few other girls but I think it was Danni who was all bummed out. She had a few shots and some harder stuff. I think I remember both of us helping her and her friends take her out of the bar. I remember being worried about her because she had too much to drink that night."

"Remember when she mentioned earlier about how she had broken up with her ex-boyfriend?" Jasper said. "Well, I think that was not too long after the breakup. Besides, I felt for her because she looked very down that night."

Cinda is starting to see where Jasper is coming from. "So there is nothing else to it then?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Jasper said, saying it in a way that means that his attraction to Danni isn't exactly what a misconception. "I do have a thing for her, but I do remember seeing her and the same girls come to the nightclub other times and we kind of talked a few times when she was a lot more calm than she was that one night. I kind of developed a crush on her for some reason."

"Oh, it all makes sense now," Cinda said, starting to get what her friend is saying. "So you have had a thing for her for a little longer than I thought. I had a feeling she looked a little familiar, but she also looked like she had gone through a lot before. After she told us her story, there is no secret there."

Jasper and Cinda are both on the same page now.

"I might need to go find Ray right now," Jasper said. "I think I need to talk to him about something."

"What is that?" Cinda asked. "Anyway, I'll go find Danni. I might want to talk to her about what you and I just talked about to see if it's true."

The two friends split to go talk to who they need to talk to. Jasper came across Ray in the cafeteria where he was eating some food he had found in there.

"Hey," Ray said while munching on an apple. "Sit down, man. I want to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?" Jasper said as he was setting himself on a chair.

"That girl that you were with, Cinda, right?" Ray said, all relaxed. "I am just curious, but does she have a boyfriend?"

Jasper knew right then and there that Ray was going to ask him about Cinda.

"I am just going to say this, Ray," Jasper said. "I saw that you were checking her out. But I am not mad at all, I just want to tell you one thing: Cinda has been going through some things right now especially with what had happened out there with her. You might want to give this some time first. She is a good person and I know that we had just met, but you seem like a nice guy as well. Believe me, I have seen my share of assholes trying to pick her up at the bar while we work."

"Where do you two work?" Ray asked.

"We are barkeeps at the Shoal Nightclub," Jasper responded. "You know where that is, right?"

"Yes, it's over inside the Yucatan Casino," Ray said. "I've never went into the nightclub, though."

The two share an awkward silence, but Ray continues to tell Jasper something. "I just think your friend is cute. I want to get to know her better, but if I am not mistaken, I think I saw you checking out that girl Danni. You know, the one in the wedding dress?"

"Okay, I'll admit, I have a thing for her," Jasper said. "But I know that she had gone through a very bad experience before coming here, so I'm going to give her some time before we can get to know each other."

Meanwhile, Cinda walks around some areas looking for Danni because she wants to talk to her about Jasper and how maybe she might be the same girl who they had helped once. Cinda sees Danni from a distance and calls out her name, which then draws Danni's attention. Danni looks over and starts walking in Cinda's direction.

"Hey, Danni, there you are," Cinda said as she approached her. "Hey, do you want to go and talk some more. There are some things that I want to know."

"Oh, sure," Danni said. Danni had washed her face from all the smeared makeup that she had on. She has less makeup on, but she doesn't look like the wreck that she was before. She started to look a lot like the beauty that she is.

Cinda and Danni continue to talk about the ordeals that they almost suffered. They're still shaken just thinking about what they had gone through.

"So tell me how exactly you came across that guy you almost married," Cinda said without hesitation. "I know it's a very sore subject and I noticed that you started to cry when we talked earlier."

Danni is surprisingly a little calmer than before, but she is still hesitant about talking about it. "I really don't know. I came out here with some friends, who I hope are safe somewhere. One minute I was trying to run and hide around Fortune Park from all the zombies and then I passed out and woke up in a wedding dress. I think this guy knocked me out. I just get grossed out thinking that he changed my clothes and what else he could have done to me while I was out cold."

"You said you didn't know him, right?" Cinda asked.

"That's right, I didn't know him, I had never met him before in my life," Danni said. "This guy was just really desperate. He said he was a virgin and he probably tried to marry me so that he could… you know. He was a very disgusting guy. I didn't know what to think when he was all feeling me up before the wedding."

"And I really thought that the cannibalistic chef who I had to deal with was creepy enough," Cinda added, feeling appalled by the situation that Danni had to go through. "The guy had human organs cooking up, but this guy sounds like a real pervert. To imagine what he could have done to you."

"Yeah, I know," Danni said. "We both got lucky, though."

Cinda feels like she needs to get something off her chest.

"Hey, Danni, may I ask you something?" Cinda said.

"Sure, go ahead," Danni said. "What is up?"

"What do you think of my friend Jasper?" Cinda asked. "I think he was checking you out when we all talked earlier."

"He seems like a nice guy, he's also kind of cute," Danni said. "But I just met you guys. I don't know about this."

"I know Jasper well, he's not a bad guy by any means," Cinda said. "He was just looking at you a little bit earlier. I am really good friends with him. He is a good guy."

"Well, I could just see about this," Danni said, being a little skeptical about this. "Don't get me wrong, he seems like a nice guy, but you have to remember that I went through a traumatic experience. I am not ready for this just yet."

"Danni, I am not asking you to date him," Cinda said. "I understand what you went through. I went through a traumatic experience myself, remember? I could have been cooked up."

"Cinda, you seem like a very nice person, too," Danni said. "When all this stuff blows over and we get out of here, I might consider it. Besides, I got over my ex. That guy is history. It's been a few months, so I'll think about this."

Cinda wants to add something, because she really wants to know if something is true.

"Danni, there is something that I want to know as well," Cinda said. "Have you ever gone to the Shoal Nightclub before? I think you look a little familiar."

Danni responds. "Yes, I have. I have been there a few times with my friends. It's a very happening place. Why do you ask?"

"Jasper told me that he thinks that he has seen you there before," Cinda said, not holding back any of what she and her friend had discussed before. "He remembers seeing you one night getting drunk because he said that you were depressed. I remember helping him and your friends get you out of there. He said that he has seen you other times when you were a lot better and he told me that you two had a conversation or something."

Danni was now starting to remember those nights of going to the club. "Now that you mention it, you two do look a little familiar. You two are the bartenders at that club. Wow, this is strange. I came across two people in here who I have encountered before. I think I was really wasted that night. That was fresh off of my breakup with my ex-boyfriend. My friends wanted to take me out to help cheer me up but I was really depressed that night, so I drank a lot. As for the other times, I do remember seeing this handsome bartender with a goatee. He was a really nice guy. That is so funny how I just run into you guys in here."

Danni and Cinda start to laugh a bit.

"I will try to talk to him," Danni said. "He seems like someone who I would like to know. By the way, did you happen to notice that guy Ray looking at you?"

Cinda responded. "No, I didn't."

"Seems like someone has his eye on you," Danni said.

Cinda starts to wonder if she should talk to Ray. Unlike the situation involving Danni, Jasper, and herself, she had never met Ray before, but she remembers his story about how he was in the South Plaza and ran off from some crazy mall cop.

The two then got up and start walking around to see what else there is to do being that they won't get rescued for another day or so.

Back in the cafeteria, Ray and Jasper still have their discussion about the ladies and also what they had gone through in the outbreak. They also seemed to start getting along more. Jasper sort of laughs about the psycho that Ray had to deal with because he didn't seem to have mental issues like the ones Cinda and Danni dealt with. Ray laughed about how the guy thought he was a cowboy, even though he did feel really bad about the survivors who he was with in the South Plaza and ended up being hung. Ray is just glad to be alive but he is still

Out of nowhere, Cinda and Danni walk into the cafeteria and met up with the guys. Danni sits in front of Jasper, while Cinda sits in front of Ray. Jasper and Danni get up to sit at a separate table from Cinda and Ray so that they can have a private conversation. They start to talk to each other more than before and seem like they are hitting it off in their discussions.

Later on, while the group were talking, Denyce and Vikki walk into the cafeteria to look for something to eat. Vikki is carrying the plant that Chuck got for her but the quartet overhears their discussion about what they had gone through as well. The four look at them with a little confusion because it seemed like there were a few others who had underwent the same thing that Danni and Cinda had gone through or something similar to what they had gone through.

All four of them get up and follow Vikki and Denyce and they go into a room and notice that Allison, Cameron, and Juan were in the same room. They had talked about their ordeals with each other.

"Wow, I guess it wasn't just us who had dealt with some psychos," Ray said, with Jasper, Cinda, and Danni looking on at their surprise.

Vikki looks up and sees the four and says hello and tells them to come in and join them. "We were having a discussion about the outbreak and what we had gone through before all of us got here."

The four slowly walk in and sit down on some chairs that were nearby. Cameron was still trying to relax his leg but he is better than before.

"Hey, we didn't realize that there were others who went through some ordeals like we did," Ray said. "What did you guys go through?"

"Let's just say that being a hippie is tough, especially when I had to deal with a total wackjob," Vikki said, as she was sitting with the plant in front of her. "I was kidnapped by some guy who had this vision of infecting other people. He was really crazy. He dragged me into a restroom. I think he was going to try to kill me and then Chuck arrived to save me."

Denyce tells her story. "I was terrorized by some looters trying to rob the drug store that I work at. They ransacked the store and were demanding that I tell them where to find a safe. Chuck fought all of them, though."

"Let's just say we were almost blown up," Cameron said with Allison sitting next to him and Juan sitting next to Allison. "But I don't think she will be doing anything like that anytime soon, after all, the woman almost got eaten by zombies. I don't know if she'll want to sing in front of zombies again. After being in here, though, I think she has cooled down a lot more than how she was before."

"Wait, that woman is here?" Danni asked.

"Yes, but she is a lot more sane than before," Allison said. "I guess the zombie thing cured her mentally. Well, to some degree, anyway."

The four decide to share their stories with the rest of the group. They all seem to have formed their own personal support group.

As for Danni and Jasper, they hit it off when they talked again and they had a discussion about the nights that Danni went to the nightclub. As for Cinda and Ray, they hit it off as well.


	10. Military Figures Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean Wayne meets the two soldiers who survived the botched rescue attempt.

When Sgt. Michael Woo and Pvt. Matthew Kuss went to the safe house, they wondered how they got lucky to survive being around the zombies, in which got more powerful after being ingested with gas. Their lead sergeant, Dwight Boykin, escaped from the Silver Strip and left behind some of the dead soldiers he had with him. Some were still alive but weren't as lucky as Woo and Kuss.

Private Kuss was lucky enough to walk on a bad leg when he and Sergeant Woo followed Chuck and Rebecca, who was being carried by Chuck because she was injured as well. Sgt. Woo and Pvt. Kuss wondered why the zombies were too strong to kill.

When they had arrived to the safe house, the two soldiers had realized that there were a lot of survivors and how all those people managed to stay in the bunker for the few days before the military came to rescue them.

Some survivors came up to the two soldiers and asked what had happened out there and they told them that they don't know. They are glad that they are away from all the zombies despite fighting them off with as much firepower as they had.

Kuss still limped a bit, which caught the attention of Sven, who went up to him so that he could look at his leg injury.

"What happened out there?" Sven asked the two soldiers. Sven started to look at his leg and while the leg was injured, he tells Kuss that it could be a lot worse.

"All these zombies started getting stronger," Sgt. Woo told Sven while standing nearby because Sven was looking at Kuss' injury. "We tried fighting them off but it took a lot of bullets to take a few down. Some of our fellow soldiers died out there. I wonder if our lead sergeant is alright, even though I thought he was a little crazy."

"Who, Boykin?" Pvt. Kuss said. "I thought he was already a little crazy. But then again, from what he has been through, I think anything would make a soldier crazy."

"You don't know the half of it," said someone from out of nowhere.

"Who said that?" said Sgt. Woo, turning his attention to the doorway of the room that they were in. The guys were in a different room than the medical office because TK was in there.

"I did," said Dean as he was limping his way into the room where the two military officers and the EMT were. "I see you two are soldiers. State your names."

Woo stated name. "Sergeant Michael Woo, at your service."

"Private Matthew Kuss, at your service," Kuss said. "What might your name be, sir?"

Dean limped a little more into the room. "My name is Dean Wayne, formerly of the US army. I was a soldier like you two before. I have fought in the Cold War and I have fought in the Gulf War. I've seen my share of nutjobs in the service. You never forget your first kill. It gets easier every single time you do it."

"I know what you mean," Woo said. "This sergeant who we came here with, we think he was a little nuts. There were times when I thought he enjoyed killing. He even had to kill the first zombie we saw."

"You think you've seen crazy people?" Dean said. "Try fighting a bunch of commies with some guy who thought he could take down a bunch of Soviet scumbags. This guy was ready to go into a Russian embassy with guns blazing and ready to bomb the place. This guy was a real maniac."

Kuss added. "Man, this guy sounds like a real nutjob."

"I have fought in the most dangerous battlefields out there in my time," Dean said. "These zombies who I shot out there were nothing compared to the horror that I had to endure when I was in the service. I have seen my share of deaths on the battlefield. Seeing people die is nothing new to me. Shooting through the undead was like a walk in the park compared to the Iraqi soldiers and commies that I had to fight back in the day."

"Hold up," Kuss said. "Did you just say that the zombies were a walk in the park? It took a whole clip to shoot two zombies. They were strong as hell."

"Maybe you guys don't know how to shoot right," Dean said. "It only took two shots from my CZ 75 9mm. That's killing, boys. What did you use?"

"We used assault rifles, and no, we knew what we were doing," said Woo. "We used SIG SG 552 models. These guns are effective in battle. These zombies probably fused with some kind of gas. They seemed different before this green stuff started coming out. It's like they were more powerful than before."

"Yeah, these zombies were hard to kill," said Kuss.

Sven was listening to their conversation and decided to add his input. "So these zombies are stronger than ever? When I was out there before, a lot of the zombies were easier to kill because I used some weapons on them. They were a piece of cake. It's a good thing that none of you, nor a lot of people were infected by the zombies. Do you know how much Zombrex costs? I was lucky to have some on me."

Sven looks at Kuss' leg one more time. "By the way, private, you're fine. You just need to take some time off for a bit. There isn't any bullet damage. Just a sprained knee."

Sven walked out of the room to go drink a little more of the liquor Chuck brought him.

"A sprained knee?" Dean said. "That's nothing. The reason I walk this way is because I got shot in my leg when I was in Iraq back in 1990. I am lucky that I am still here and walking, but when I was 26, I fought through hell and back, and on this bad leg, too."

"Mr. Wayne, sir," Kuss said. "With all due respect, let's not compare each other's experiences, okay? Myself and Sergeant Woo would be dead if it wasn't for that guy Chuck Greene. Those zombies were out of control. You would be dead, too."

"I am not afraid to die," Dean said. "I have cheated death every single time I went out to battle. Do you think that some zombies would have been a problem to me? I don't think so. Killing is so easy to me that I have done it so many times. You boys don't know what killing is until you set foot in a battlefield with guys ready to kill you."

Sgt. Woo added his input. "To put it lightly, we were the only two surviving members of our unit who came here to rescue all of you. It all went sour because the zombies were out of control. Our lead sergeant disappeared. Both Kuss and I don't know what happened to him. He could have died for all we know. We don't have any ways to contact other people. Kuss and myself are damn lucky to be alive. And believe me, Mr. Wayne, I have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know what it's like to fight in hellholes like that. I have seen my share of deaths of fellow soldiers. It's a tragic sight for anybody, not just civilians, not just soldiers, ANYBODY! So don't give me any shit about what I know and don't know. Do I make myself clear?"

Dean smiled and chuckled a bit. "You know, I like you guys. You guys have a lot of balls being out there and fighting off zombies and you, Kuss, I have a feeling you still fought hard with that sprained knee of yours and still managed to get here. That's exactly what happened to me, even though I think that guy Chuck got tired of waiting, so he pushed me on a wheelchair, but no way in hell was I going to let him carry me from his shoulder. I am a soldier, not a cripple. I am tough as nails, enough to shoot zombies while being rolled on a wheelchair."

Sgt. Woo and Pvt. Kuss looked at each other with confusion but then looked at Dean again with a little more confusion

"You boys have my respect," Dean said, putting his hand out, waiting to be shook.

Woo and Kuss are a little reluctant, but still shake Dean's hand anyway.


	11. Snowflake's Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is about Snowflake.

When Chuck had tamed Snowflake with the steaks he had fed to her, she had become friendly and not as harmful as she was before. Chuck felt that the only way he could tame a tiger like Snowflake was to give her some food or else he would have become her meal instead.

Snowflake had no reason to attack Chuck anymore after she saw that he had given her what she had wanted: food. Chuck saw some guy enter the office at the Yucatan and it was Lenny Mooney, who was really scared at the sight of a tiger at first, but then he saw that she is of no harm anymore.

On the way back to the safe house, Chuck and Lenny didn't have much to worry with a tiger being on their side. Despite Snowflake not being harmful to people anymore, she still didn't take kindly to the zombies. Along the way, she managed to rip through many zombies. Ted trained Snowflake well. Despite being slow, he knew that she disliked zombies but loved meat and was not harmful to people because he had trained her for a long time.

When Chuck had brought Lenny and Snowflake to the safe house, there had been some kind of stir at first glance. Chuck was able to reason with everyone though.

"What the hell is this?!" Sullivan quickly turned his attention to Chuck. "Why is there a tiger in here? You know that's an endangered species?"

Other survivors like Gordon, LaShawndra, Denyce, Lulu, Skylar, Chrystal, Tamara, and others were quick to jump at the sight of a tiger in the safe house.

"It is okay, Sullivan," Chuck said. "She is not going to hurt anybody. I tamed her. I fed her. She is okay. She will not hurt anybody, I swear."

"How do I know that you are not lying?" Sullivan said. "Tigers are wild and vicious. That thing could go after anybody in here."

"She would have attacked me and Lenny right here before we got here," Chuck said. "Everything is fine. I think her master taught her well. Besides, she is a living creature. I couldn't bring myself to hurt an animal."

"Okay, Chuck," Sullivan said. "I believe you, but if that tiger causes any problems, I will have no choice but to make my move."

Chuck nods his head. Lenny goes somewhere to cool off. Meanwhile, Chuck brings Snowflake into the security room where Stacey and Katey are. Stacey looks over at Chuck and is shocked at what she sees.

"Chuck, what is this?" Stacey said a little nervously. "Are you actually bringing a tiger in here? I don't think this is a good idea."

"Relax, Stacey, everything is fine," Chuck said. "I tamed her. I fed her. She will not hurt you, nor Katey, or anybody else in here."

Snowflake goes and lays herself by the couch where Katey is sitting. Katey is surprisingly not scared at all of Snowflake being in her presence. Snowflake makes a little sound to Katey, which causes her to laugh a little bit.

"Hey, Daddy," Katey said. "Can we keep her?"

Chuck did not know what to think about what his daughter had said. "We'll see, Katey."

Stacey then asks Chuck about what had happened with the tiger. Chuck explained that her master was hungry and while the master went off on him, he had no choice but to fight him. Chuck felt really bad about what he did, but he had no choice, even though he was able to see that he was lonely and slow.

Snowflake reached her paw out to Katey, who then reached her hand out. The two shook hands.

Chuck and Stacey got closer to Snowflake and Katey. Stacey is now able to see that the tiger is of no harm.

"I will try to see if I can reach animal control," Stacey said.

"Don't," Chuck said. "Can't you see how happy Katey is?"

"Chuck, I can see that," Stacey said. "But tigers are wild animals."

Chuck sees where she is coming from. At that point, Chuck just decides to let Katey have her fun before he figures out what to do with Snowflake.

A lot of survivors seemed rather shocked about being in the safe house with a tiger. Some were scared about there with Snowflake, but they figured that if she wouldn't attack Katey or Stacey, then they had nothing to worry about.


	12. Shopping Spree Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosa, Eric, and Bessie talk about the stuff they bought while in the outbreak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter that I was not really a big fan of doing.

Rosa, Erica, and Bessie all hang out in a room in the safe house, trying on the shoes that they had bought at Kathy's Space earlier on. With all the money they had spent on the shoes, they were satisfied with the shoes that they had gotten, especially in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

"Wow, these shoes are great," Rosa said. "Hey Erica, do you think maybe this could go on your next story? About how there was an amazing sale at Kathy's Space in the middle of a zombie outbreak?"

Erica added. "I'm no Frank West, who did the biggest story on a zombie outbreak a long time ago, as well as wrote a book talking about that whole incident, but this could be a good story idea. Talking about the best shoes being at the site of a zombie outbreak."

Bessie added, "It was nice of that guy Chuck to carry all of our shoes for us. It's not like we couldn't hold our own against the zombies on our way over here."

Erica had some ideas for a story to cover.

"In a way, I want to cover this outbreak," Erica said. "I may be a fashion journalist, but I have done stories on other things. I don't want to feel like I'm trying to emulate Frank West though. I have read his book and that guy had one hell of a story on the Willamette outbreak a few years ago. I have had the chance at meeting him a few times. He signed my copy of "The Willamette Incident" and I used to watch his show all the time. He is like my inspiration."

Rosa added. "Erica, I think you could just do a story on the outbreak and how we got these shoes. Mostly how sales like this don't come all the time and getting good deals on these shoes. There were no lines out at all. We fought the zombies off while getting to the store. It was one amazing sale."

"Who cared about zombies when we found our chance to get these shoes?" Bessie said. "Besides, it's not like we didn't hold our own on our way to the store. You should do a story on the outbreak and the sale. It could make your career as a journalist go farther, Erica."

"Thanks, Bessie," Erica said. "Although I can't imagine coming back without all those shoes we all paid good money for, even though there wasn't someone working at the stores. At least we're not like those assholes who tried to jack us. They had no idea who they were messing with, whether they were carrying crowbars or not."

"Those shoes are not cheap," Bessie said. "There's no way we were leaving the outbreak without those shoes that we bought. And as for those looters, they don't know shit about us. We may come from rich families, but we learned from the best how to defend ourselves when we need to. Like how we defended ourselves against those looters and those zombies."

"I even told that guy who found us that we were not damsel-in-distress types," Rosa said. "I sure as hell wasn't scared of those zombies."

Bessie and Rosa look over at Erica and notice that she has other things on her mind at that moment.

"Erica, what is up?" Bessie asked.

"Yeah, you seem all quiet all of a sudden," Rosa said. She was a little confused.

"Oh, it's nothing," Erica said, still thinking about the story that she wants to do. "I am just thinking about the story I want to do. I have thought about covering other things besides fashion. I know you two are my top readers for my articles on fashion, but I think that I should do some articles about other things like this outbreak."

"Erica, I think you should do the story on these shoes first," Rosa said. "Then you should probably do the story on the outbreak. After all, I think you could make a name for yourself as a reporter for covering other things besides fashion."

"I will see what I want to do," Erica said. "Besides, I did say that Frank West is my idol in some areas. I think I've read some of his stories about the wars he has covered. That guy has balls for going out there in a warzone and doing a story on that."

"I think you could do this," Rosa said. "Anyway, I am surprised that we didn't go to other stores when we had the chance. We should have gone to Brand New U in the Palisades Mall. There probably were some clothes we needed to try out."

Bessie added. "We still have a lot of money left over after we bought those shoes, but I don't know if we should go back out there. Besides, I don't want to dirty myself up like we almost did out there. I am surprised that none of us got any blood on ourselves. After paying hundreds of dollars for this dress that I am wearing, it's a good thing that I don't have blood on myself."

During their time in the safe house, the women were approached by the quartet of nerds, as well as Jared, who hardly ever passes up an opportunity at meeting attractive women. Despite their wealthy upbringing, the trio didn't have a snobby attitude towards the guys. They were cordial to Brian, Curtis, John, and Kevin, but they didn't have a lot of interest in them. Jared, on the other hand, seemed interesting to them, but it was obvious that he was trying to get at all three of them and they didn't have total interest.

They came across another trio of ladies who were sort of standoffish at first. That is the Guardian Angels trio, Cora, Nina, and Summer. A trio of rich girls and a trio of scantily clad bodyguards, both of whom seemed to have given the wrong impression at first.

Cora perceived them as the snobby rich girl types, whereas Bessie initially thought that they were strippers or prostitutes, but they couldn't have been more wrong. They may dress a certain way, but they are anything but strippers or hookers.

Cora and Bessie got into it.

"So what are some rich girls like you doing in a place like this?" Cora said to Bessie.

"We are here because of the zombie outbreak," Bessie said. "We bought some shoes recently from Kathy's Space. We couldn't beat a sale like that."

"Shoes, eh?" Cora said. "Must be some nice shoes that you girls bought. You look like you bought some really pricey shoes. Anyway, are you girls in need of protection?"

"Excuse me?" Bessie said with an attitude. "Look who's talking, with the way you ladies are dressed."

"Not that kind of protection," Cora said. "We are bodyguards. We can kick ass for you if you are willing to hire us for a job."

"Oh, that kind of protection," Bessie said, with Erica and Rosa by her sides. "We can handle ourselves. We know how to fight."

"Okay, but if you're up to having some protection," Cora said. "Be sure to hit us up. Look up Guardian Angels Protection Agency."

"We'll see," Bessie said. "But I think we could take care of ourselves. We fought a lot of zombies on our way over here."

"So did we," Nina said. "Did you come across this good looking guy and followed him? I thought he was cute."

Rosa added, "Does he have blond hair?"

Summer replied. "Yes, he does. He was a real hottie."

Bessie said, "Yes, we did. He even helped carry our shoeboxes for us. He was cool."

Erica noticed the bikini Cora was wearing. It looks like something she had mentioned in one of her past stories about swimwear for the Summer special of the magazine she writes for.

The trios didn't get along at first, but they seemed to have gotten along not too long after that.

Erica started thinking more about her next story to write. She feels that doesn't have to limit herself to just fashion journalism. She thinks that she could write for the Fortune Press about "Fortune's End." This could make her journalism career go farther.


	13. Terri and Willa

After going through what they went through, Terri and Willa feel safer than ever before. Willa tried to fight off the zombies earlier but couldn't handle it anymore. She hurt her leg while trying to fight them off earlier but for some reason, she managed to climb up a scaffolding to stay from the zombies while Terri still kept trying to fight them off.

When they got to the safe house, Willa had apologized to Terri for not helping her a lot with the zombies. Terri said that it was okay because she knew that Willa was hurt and that Terri had everything under control. Willa was unable to handle the zombies but is glad that Terri handled a lot of them.

Willa admires Terri for her bravery. Willa felt that she couldn't handle the zombies anymore. Willa sits near a wall next to some stairs with Terri by her side.

"Terri, I want to thank you for fighting off the zombies," Willa said. "I couldn't handle them anymore."

"Willa, you are my friend and I wouldn't want to see you hurt," Terri said. "I think I saw an EMT around here. I should have him look at your leg."

Willa agrees with her friend. "Go find that guy, please. I'll be right here."

Willa sits there and thinks more about her friend in a way she never thought of her. Willa can see why a lot of the fellow male construction workers often check Terri out. Terri is a very attractive woman who certainly has no problem with the way she dresses sometimes to work. Willa sometimes wonders if she dresses that way because she mixes in with her other job. Terri works part-time as an exotic dancer at The Peep Hole and even has an act as a construction worker for her routine.

Willa hasn't had a lot of luck with guys. She can see that Terri had been sexually harassed a few times, but in some ways, she is a little jealous over the attention that Terri gets. Terri, however, isn't like other women as she has stood up to a few of her male co-workers for making sexual passes at her and whistling at her. She even knows that some of them have gone to The Peep Hole a few times for some shows of hers, but they didn't say anything to the foreman or anybody else because they know that she would not like that at all.

Willa thinks about the times that Terri has helped her out when she needed it.

_I consider Terri to be a really good friend. In fact, she is one of my best friends, if not my best overall. She has always done things for me and helped me out when I needed it the most._

_I can see that she has a lot of confidence in dressing the way she does sometimes at work. I never question it, though. Sometimes I think she looks great in what she wears. Wait, did I just say that?_

_Could I be attracted to Terri? I mean I like guys, but I know in a lot of ways, I like girls, too. This can't be true. I know Terri is straight. I have known Terri for years. She has helped me with a lot of things, but I can't really believe that I am actually thinking that I am attracted to my best friend._

_I have helped her out as well. I have seen a lot of assholes trying to hit on her at work. When we were working the South Plaza recently, I have tried to defend her honor, even though I know Terri can handle herself. It's not easy being the only two female construction workers in the company._

_I wonder why she has that other job. She doesn't need to degrade herself like that, even though she tells me that she that the money she makes is really good. Besides, our boss is a real asshole. Or was, I don't know what happened to him. The foreman probably got killed by the zombies or maybe turned into one. I guess we're out a job now. I know Terri has her job at The Peep Hole, but what do I have? I don't have a body as great as hers to strut on stage like that._

_I don't know if I should tell her about my feelings. Besides, I know I like guys as well. I have seen some handsome guys in here. I even thought that guy Chuck was cute. I will have to tell her sooner or later._

Terri finds Sven somewhere. "Hey, mister, you help people right?"

Sven nodded his head. "Is there a problem, miss?"

"My friend hurt her leg while we were out there, sir," Terri said. "Can you help her?"

"Sure, I'll go help her," Sven said. "By the way, my name is Sven. What's your name?"

"My name is Terri," Terri said. "Nice to meet you, sir."

Sven and Terri go back to where Willa is and Sven goes and takes a look at Willa's leg.

Terri asks Willa how she is doing. Willa said that she is doing fine and that she had some stuff to think about.

While Sven was helping Willa out, Terri starting thinking about her friend and what they have gone through.

_Willa and I have a history and I know we are the only female workers in the company we work at. I have known her for a long time. I have helped her out on many occasions and she has helped me at times._

_Lately, I've been getting a feeling that she likes me a little more than just being a friend. I know that she is bi and I know that she has dealt with her share of assholes and bitches._

_I can sometimes sense that she isn't happy with the other job I do. It's a living. I mean I dance for horny guys and they tip me every time. I make good money off of the tips and the checks I get. Besides, our asshole foreman hasn't been paying us well lately. That guy is so sexist. He doesn't think that two ladies can do a man's job. I have dealt with my share of sexist assholes in my lifetime. That includes the guys who I work with, always trying to get a quickie from me or something._

_I have a feeling that Willa and I are out of a job now. Ever since the zombie outbreak started, some of our co-workers turned into zombies, others were probably killed by the zombies. I could try to help Willa get another job somewhere. Maybe she can be a bouncer or something at The Peep Hole. Despite not fighting a lot of the zombies earlier, she is still a tough woman. I can try talking to her about this._

_As for her feelings for me, she knows that I like guys, but I might have to tell her eventually that I don't feel for her that way. She knows that I am straight and I know that she is bi. I will have to tell her soon._

Sven finished looking at Willa's leg. "Okay, your leg will be fine. You might want to put some ice on it to make it a little better."

"Thanks, doctor," Willa said.

After Sven took off, Terri and Willa began talking about the stuff that they had gone through. Willa also wants to tell Terri something, but Terri already knows what she will tell her. They have the talk anyway. Despite the feelings not being mutual, Willa is still happy to have Terri as a friend. Terri also mentions to Willa about having a job at the strip club as a bouncer. Willa said she will think about it, but she thinks she'll want to do it. That is if there are no construction companies hiring after the outbreak happened.


	14. Andy and Tammy (Part 2)

Andy and Tammy continued to have their conversation and seem to be hitting it off. Tammy is surprised at all of this because she didn't think she would find herself attracted to a guy like Andy. She usually dates guys who are jocks or model types.

Andy, on the other hand, hasn't been with too many girls in his lifetime. It's no secret that part of the reason that Andy carried Tammy earlier because he was attracted to her. Tammy's beauty really caught Andy's attention and while Andy tried to keep his feelings to himself, Tammy knew that there was something up with him. Chuck had offered to carry her because she couldn't walk. She couldn't take off her mermaid tail because she went commando and it would have been really embarrassing for her to walk naked in public, despite wearing her seashell bikini top. Andy quickly insisted that he carried her and he did. In Andy's mind, it was one of the greatest things to ever happen to him.

"So how did you get a job as a mermaid performer at the Atlantica Casino?" Andy asked.

"Well, I work as a model and I think it was because the casino owner wanted a girl to perform as mermaid on the clam," Tammy said. "I don't really do much, I just sit on the clam. Some other girls also have that job."

"That's all you do?" Andy said. "You just sit there and look pretty?"

"Pretty much, I guess the owner usually finds some models to work that job that I have," Tammy said and she looks away a bit. "It pays well, but I get annoyed how every time I work, a bunch guys try hitting on me or take pictures of me like if I am some sex object or something."

"Well, Tammy, you are a pretty girl," Andy said without hesitation.

Tammy blushed. "Aw, thank you, Andy. You're so sweet. I just wish that there are more guys out there who would like me for me, more than just my looks or body. I have dealt with a lot of guys with perverted gestures and comments at the casino."

Andy is not so shocked at hearing what Tammy had just told him. He figured that she got male attention everywhere she went. "So what are some things that you like to do?"

"I like going to clubs and movies," Tammy said. "I also sometimes like staying home where it's nice and peaceful. It's sometimes better than dealing with a lot of crazy people out there. I have seen some people get drunk at the casino. It's not a pretty sight."

"People get crazy sometimes, I am not going to argue," Andy said.

While they continued to talk, Tammy starts thinking about the amount she has spent with Andy.

_I know I just met him, but there is something about him that makes me want to get to know him a lot more. It was very sweet of Andy to carry me and it was even sweeter of him to go out there and get me some clothes. He could have gotten me a shirt, but at least I can walk now._

_There is really something about him that I like. I know a lot of the guys who I have dated in the past are usually a certain type. Bad boy types who wear baggy clothes and tilted hats, forwards or backwards. Guys with muscles and rock hard abs who usually show off their bodies when going to the beach, lake or water park. Some are even just too pretty for my tastes. I get sick of going for the same old types all the time. Plus, I am tired of dealing with guys who only want to get in me, not get to know me. There's more to relationships than just sex but most of the guys who I date don't get that._

_I think Andy is cute. He may not be like the other guys who I know, but I like that. He is different than all the other guys who I know and that's a good thing. It's good to see that there are guys out there who want to know me for me, not just my physical appearance. The fact that he went out there in the zombie outbreak to get me some clothes just shows that there are still good guys out there. When Andy asked me out on a date, I knew I had to say yes. After all, he did do some things for me and I feel safe with him._

_I know he told me that he has trauma and that he had suicidal tendencies. I have a feeling that he will overcome his trauma soon. At least he was brave enough to go and fight a lot of zombies like he did before._

Andy had suggested that they go out to dinner for their first date. He wants to take her to a nice restaurant.

"Andy, you don't have to go for anything fancy with me," Tammy said. "It would not hurt if we went somewhere like Cucina Donnacci or even the Wild West Grill House. You don't need to go overboard to impress me."

"I just want to take you somewhere nice," Andy said. "I haven't been on a date in quite a while, so I'm just trying to see what we can do."

"Oh, you're so sweet," Tammy said. "But it's really okay. I think I like you."

Andy blushed when he heard her say that. Right then, he started thinking about the time they have spent together in the safe house.

_I really can't believe this. A beautiful girl like her seems interested in me. I know she had told me about a lot of the assholes she has dated in the past but I can see that she is really interested in me. I have never felt this happy in a long time, especially with all the depression and trauma that I have been going through._

_I know it was obvious to her about my feelings for her. The moment I saw her, I knew that Chuck was not lying about how things could be a lot worse than what I had been through. I know I told him that I don't have that great of a relationship with my mom. I know that I wanted to kill myself with the shotgun that I used because I couldn't handle all the zombies anymore and I couldn't handle life anymore._

_When I first saw her, I felt like I was in heaven. They say that "love at first sight" is bullshit, but I am guessing it is wrong in this case. I can very well that she is a gorgeous girl and looked nice in that mermaid costume, but I think that there is more to it than physical attractiveness. I have seen some other women in this safe house who aren't wearing a lot, like a trio of women who I think I saw around the Palisades Mall, as well as this showgirl, a construction worker or even that girl who looked like she was in her bra and panties and another who was in her bikini but her skin looked a little burnt. Yes, they are all hot, but I didn't feel that way about them like I did towards Tammy. There was something about her when I first saw her. The fact that she was sitting on a clam in the middle of the Atlantica Casino with no way of walking and zombies coming towards her, I knew that she was just someone with no way of being able to move with the way she was dressed, so I did what I wanted to do. Plus, it got us acquainted with each other. It didn't feel awkward one bit. I even noticed the way she looked at me. She looked at me like if I was a hero of some sort._

_When I asked her out earlier and she accepted, that was the first time in a long time that I smiled. I really want to get to know her better. I must ask her for her number._

Andy takes his cellphone out of his pocket. "Hey Tammy, can you give me your phone number?"

"Of course," Tammy said. She then gives him her number. "Call me anytime. I would like to talk to you more." Tammy then remembers that she left her phone in her purse in a locker at the casino. Andy said he is willing to go back out there and get her phone for her.

"Please, Andy, you've done enough," Tammy said. "You got lucky last time, but I am afraid that you will get eaten alive this time around."

"Those zombies don't scare me," Andy said. "Besides, I feel like I forgot to get you a shirt. I might get you that as well."

As Andy was about to take off, Tammy grabbed Andy's hand and insisted that he stay.

"Andy, how do I know that this isn't one of your suicidal tendencies?" Tammy said with a worried look on her face. "I remember how you told me that you had thought of killing yourself. I know you got lucky out there getting me these pants, but you really don't need to get my other things."

"I want to," Andy said, insisting that he has everything under control. "You just have to tell me where I could find your purse. You still have your important items in there, right?"

"Yeah, but…" Tammy said.

"But I want to get you your stuff," Andy said.

"I saw a big horde of zombies out there," Tammy said, still concerned. "At least Chuck found a secret passage from the Palisades Mall to the Royal Flush Plaza, but what about if you go out into Fortune Park? There are still lots of zombies out there."

"I was still able to handle some of the zombies out there," Andy said. "Besides, I think that Chuck inspired me how to handle myself in those kinds of situations. Also, remember when I told you about me fighting off the zombies before I had that talk with Chuck and right before you and I met? It's not like I can't handle it."

Tammy didn't know what else to think at that moment. She is really worried for Andy. What happened before was that Andy just wanted to get her some pants so that she can walk. The fact that he wants to go out to the Atlantica Casino is a little more dangerous as he has to travel a little farther. Even though she has developed some feelings for him, she starts to wonder if Andy is crazy, stupid or just plain suicidal. Andy was very insistent on doing this for her. She reluctantly agreed to letting him go out there. She even gave him the number to her locker where her purse is.

Andy then walks out of the room that they were in. Once again, he notices Sullivan out of his chair but notices a fire axe lying around and picks it up. He goes right through the duct that goes right into the electrical area of the mall.

Andy found himself right outside of the safe house once again. Andy starts to think back to what Tammy was telling him. Andy is mostly doing this because he likes the girl, but even he is starting to wonder if she is right about what she said. Andy did have a lot of trauma before, but he is following his own personal instincts. He feels he'll back in once piece again.

He walks through the hallway where the maintenance room is and sees a sledgehammer lying around. He picks it up and decides to combine the two weapons to make a Defiler. He broke the blade end of the axe off and taped it to the sledgehammer and succeeded in building the weapon. He then walks out of the maintenance area and whacks a zombie right in the head with the Defiler. He then kills another zombie in his way. With a clear path ahead of him, once again, he races through the Royal Flush Plaza and tries to make to the main exit into Fortune Park.

Along the way, he kills more zombies. He jumped the railing to where the big craps table was and killed the zombies who were formerly mall security. One of them dropped a pistol and Andy picked it up. Andy noticed that there was only a little bit in the clip but it was better than nothing. He then got to the exit where the slot machines and the car were, only to find that there was a horde of zombies blocking the doorway. He shot a few zombies in the head to make sure that they were dead, but it wasn't enough. He then got his Defiler out and started laying waste into a lot of the zombies, enough so that he can get through a door. He managed to get out into Fortune Park.

Andy saw that there were still a lot of zombies outside. He saw a football lying around and for some odd reason, a few hand grenades.

_I can understand the football, but grenades? What the hell are these doing out here?_

Andy picked up the football and grenades and saw another maintenance room by the restroom area where the rock fountain is. He made a Hail Mary out of the football and grenades, which could be of some use as he saw another group of zombies by the entrance to the Atlantica Casino. Andy headed in front of the casino and threw the football towards some zombies and it blew up a few zombies in the process and sent Andy flying backwards a little. Andy was okay though.

Man, that was close.

Andy headed right into the casino and still went through a lot of zombies with the Defiler. To avoid being bitten by zombies, Andy climbed on top of some slots and tried to find where the dressing room was. He saw the performance hall door and went through there and found a doorway into the back where another maintenance room was, but found the dressing room. He tries to remember Tammy's locker number and then found her locker and broke it open with the Defiler. Just to make sure it was her stuff, he went through her purse to check for IDs and stuff and noticed that they all said "Tammy Blaine" on them and they did. Her cellphone was also in there. Andy picked up her purse and was on his way.

Back at the safe house, Tammy sat there and looked a little emotional over what she and Andy had talked about.

_Why is Andy doing this? I know he likes me, but I tried to tell him that it was okay and that he didn't need to go and get my things. I could just go and buy myself a new phone and I don't get it back, but I really wonder if he really does want to die._

_Andy seems like a really nice guy, but why do I get the feeling that he still wants to die? He told me he was afraid of the zombies and was willing to end it all but he seemed to have calmed down earlier. I don't understand this guy._

_All I am worried about is if he is okay. I REALLY hope he doesn't do this again when he gets back with my stuff._

Andy exits the Atlantica Casino and heads up the escalator and goes into Brand New U. He remembers that is wear the passage to the Royal Flush Plaza is. He notices some shirts lying around. He picks one up so that he can give it to Tammy to help cover herself up a little bit. Andy then heads to the fitting room area where the passage is and goes right through it and ends up in the men's restroom in the Royal Flush Plaza. He didn't want to deal with anymore zombies, so he ran to the door to the maintenance area and headed straight for the duct to go back into the safe house.

He gets back inside the safe house and sees that nobody is around once again and heads straight for the room where Tammy is in.

As he walked right in, Tammy was more than relieved that he was still alive. Andy handed Tammy her purse and the shirt that she could wear.

"Andy, I couldn't thank you enough for what you did," Tammy said, still relieved to see that he is okay. "But promise me that you won't go back out there again."

"I promise," Andy said. "It won't happen again. Besides, I thought about what you said and I am starting to let go of this trauma. I know what I was crazy, but that's all over now."

"I'm happy to hear you say that," Tammy said. She then gets her phone out of her purse. "Now, can you give me your number?"

Andy smiled once again and then gives her his phone number so that they can call each other. They then plan to see when they could go out on their date that they talked about.


	15. Demand and Supply

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sven stresses about the lives he failed to save and now has to look at who may be injured in the safe house.

Being in the safe house has been stressing out Sven a lot. He is a man of his job but a lot of the time, he can't help but think about the lives he has failed to save. He did his best to save the life of Tim Duggan when his body was found in the Little Duck Bingo Hall in the Silver Strip.

He had been helping out a lot of the survivors who had suffered some injuries out there, even some who were also suffering from some other sicknesses. He helped out Willa with her injuries. He tried to help out Kristin with her hangover from being drunk the night before but she recovered after a while. She turned out to be an experienced drinker, so it wasn't like she was suffering too bad of a hangover. Some other survivors suffered cuts from the zombies, but none of them were bitten, otherwise they would have turned.

He tried to help out Dean, but Dean ended up being a little stubborn and told Sven that his condition was permanent after serving for his country back in his time as a soldier.

Sven started thinking back to when he came across Tim Duggan in the Silver Strip.

_I noticed that he was bleeding from some major injuries. I did all that I could to save him but he still died. I have gone through so many people dying while trying to save them. It never gets easier for me, but I have been there lots of times. It's good that I found some other survivors in here. Some of them need a lot of help, but it's nothing I can't do. It's my job. I have to help people. However, it gets really stressful after a while._

_I also noticed that some disinfectant is gone and I can't go out there and get any more for any survivors who need it. I need to use something to help treat some wounds. Maybe some alcohol can do the trick._

_Speaking of which, I have been under a lot of stress, I could really use a drink, maybe some vodka or whiskey. I can't just go out there and get some. There must be a way._

Chuck comes back to the safe house and was carrying a bottle of vodka he had found in a bar in one of the casinos. He walks up the stairs and sees Sven through the window, sitting in the cafeteria looking like he is thinking about something. Chuck walks into the cafeteria and talks to Sven.

Sven looks up at Chuck and starts talking. "So much for emergency preparedness! What is this, the Superdome?"

Chuck responds. "Hey, buddy, what's going on?"

"Hey, Chuck," Sven said. "We got some injured people around here. They need disinfectants for their wounds."

"I don't think there's much hope for that," Chuck said. "This place is cleaned out."

Sven replies. "Well, look, if you can't find disinfectant, how about some booze? That'll kill of germs in a pinch. Get me some booze, and I can do my job. It'll have to be something strong, some whiskey or vodka should do."

Chuck looks at his bottle of vodka. He then hands it to Sven.

Sven then takes a drink of the vodka with Chuck looking at him all confusedly.

"Thanks a lot, buddy," Sven said after taking a swig. "That's some good medicine. Don't worry, there's plenty left for all those cuts and bruises. I got some Zombrex here for your troubles."

Sven hands Chuck the box of Zombrex, who couldn't be any more relieved because he could really take some for Katey's sake.

Sven relieved all of his stress from the drink he took. Now he has to get back to doing what he does best.


	16. The Nerds Get a Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may border on the M-rating in a way. Also, this also involves two exclusive survivors from Off The Record.
> 
> Also, this one was done mainly for comical purposes and also for a little fanservice.

The nerds have become more comfortable being in the safe house with all of the women. Despite how they are dressed, the women seemed to have become more comfortable being in the presence of four guys who have little luck with the ladies. Some of them were willing to play cards with them.

Kevin seemed to have made a connection with the beautiful Europa, even though her lack of clothing seemed to have put Kevin in a bit of a bind. She genuinely likes him and while he likes her, he seems to have trouble believing it. Plus, it's hard for him not to get a little excited being that she is in her underwear. Kevin went back with his friends after chatting with Europa for a little bit, but plans on talking with her more later.

Brian, Curtis, John and Kevin all made a new friend in the process and his name is Eric Masters, a pro gamer and one of the best gamers in Fortune City. He hit it off with the quartet because he doesn't have luck with the ladies either and the nerds are gamers as well.

Women like Kristin, Lulu, Cora, Nina, and Summer were already somewhat of a challenge to the four guys, but one woman proved to be a major challenge and that woman is Deidre Sanchez, a stripper who dances at The Peep Hole. All of the guys were mesmerized by her sex appeal and body shape that they couldn't believe what they were seeing. She dresses like a cop as part of her act.

Deidre walks around the safe house looking for a restroom to help adjust some things about her. She walks in such a way that has the five guys looking over at her as she walks and could not help but notice the way her butt moves when she walks. The guys couldn't stop looking at her.

The five guys stand around somewhere and start talking.

"Man, I have never seen a woman like that before," Eric said. "She is freakin' hot! And I thought a lot of others were hot that I saw around here, like that mermaid girl or even that showgirl."

"We didn't really talk to the mermaid girl much," Brian said. "She was already talking with someone and we didn't want to get in the middle."

"You should see these four women we got to play cards with," John said. "Man, they were hot as hell. Especially those women who said that they are bodyguards. Man, we got so lucky."

"Kevin got lucky," Curtis said, looking over him as well as the others looking in the direction of Kevin. "I saw the way that girl was looking at you and talking to you."

Yeah, Kevin," Brian said. "What's your secret? A girl who was in her underwear was like all over you. You are so lucky, man."

"I'm a little jealous, man," Eric said. "I see some girls at gaming events and some talk to me but even I get a little nervous around them."

Kevin blushes a little bit. "I don't know. Maybe she likes me for my intelligence."

"Sure…" Eric said, sarcastically.

The guys laugh while standing in a corner and sees Deidre walking again, but this time in their direction. The guys calm down a little and look at Deidre and smile at her and Deidre smiles back at them and passes. Deidre then turns around and approaches the quintet. The guys stand up still as she gets closer.

Deidre starts talking to them. "Say, boys, I was wondering. Haven't I seen you guys at The Peep Hole before?"

The guys tense up a little. Brian isn't as tense, though. "Why do you ask?"

"I think I might have given one of you guys a lap dance before. One of you seems to come in often."

"We don't go to that place a lot, but we have been there before." Curtis said. "Maybe a little more times."

Deidre responds. "Oh, okay. You guys look a little familiar. I was just wondering."

"What's with the bowling pin?" Eric asks, noticing that she is carrying a bowling pin.

"Oh, it's part of my dancing routine," Deidre said. "If you want, I could show you what I do with it."

"You mean like dance for us?" Brian said, with a little bit of a smile on his face.

"Sure, if you guys would like for me to do this," Deidre said, who seems willing to show these guys her moves.

"Oh, definitely!" John said, with a lot of excitement.

Deidre tries to find an empty room to show the guys her moves. As they were walking, Cora, Nina and Summer look over at them, with Europa, Kristin and Lulu standing with them.

"What is going on here?" Kristin said. "Hey, Europa, isn't that the guy you were talking to earlier?"

Europa sees Kevin in the group. "Yes, it is. What are they doing? Who is that girl?"

Europa doesn't think that Kevin would just talk to another woman like that, after they had appeared to have connected in some sort of way, even though he was really nervous about his encounter with her. She seems more confused because another woman who is dressed like a slutty cop is leading them somewhere.

Lulu adds her input. "I think she is a stripper. She seems like it and maybe the guys just want a show or something."

The women go to where the guys and Deidre went and they just want to see what is up.

The guys all sit on some cots. Deidre asks if any of them have any music to provide her with and Eric busts out his phone, which has a built-in speaker and some songs on there, some even worthy of Deidre dancing to. She then finds a song and puts the phone down and starts dancing for the guys.

She starts dancing very suggestively like moving her hips, butt and feeling her breasts and comes close to Brian and she starts giving him a lap dance.

Brian starts smiling and getting really excited over what is happening. The others like Curtis, Eric, John and Kevin start getting the same feeling as well.

Europa opens the door a little bit and notices through the crack that Deidre is only dancing for the guys, very suggestively at that.

Deidre grabs the bowling pin and starts rubbing it against her chest, her stomach and then finally around her legs. All the guys are getting really aroused by the sight of this and are really speechless about all this.

John leans over to Brian and says something. "Man, this woman is damn hot!"

Brian nods his head with a smile on his face.

Europa still looks on and rather than be upset, she thinks that she can make their little show a little more interesting.

Europa approaches Kristin. "Hey, why don't we spice up their show a little more?"

"What do you mean?" Kristin asked.

"Let's dance for them," Europa said, with a lot of determination.

"Hold up, I'm a showgirl, not a stripper," Kristin said.

"Come on, this will be fun," Europa said. "Besides, showgirls dance, right? Just do this."

"Oh, okay, I will," Kristin said.

Lulu wants to join in as well. "I can give those guys a show that they will never forget."

Before the other women come in, Deidre turns her attention over to Eric. She gets on her hands and knees and starts suggestively crawling towards him and she grabs his hand and starts rubbing it against her body. Eric's heart and pulse start racing and starts getting these funny feelings in the process.

Oh my god, this great! This is better than winning the "Street Fighter IV" tournament!

Europa, Kristin and Lulu walk in and start dancing as well. The guys are more than happy to have more dance for them. Europa quickly approaches Kevin and turns around shakes her butt to him and then straddles him and puts her breasts against his face and starts rubbing them against him. She then gets a little lower and grabs his chin. She gets little closer and lays a kiss on his lips.

She continues to dance for him. Kevin is now starting to feel a lot funnier than ever before.

_Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! I think I remember what happens if I get to excited after taking a health class many years ago and I am starting to get that feeling right now! Why do my pants feel tighter?_

Kristin and Lulu start dancing as well. Gyrating suggestively and Kristin turns her back to Lulu and bends over with Lulu still standing and doing a little rubbing and then spanks Kristin's butt, which then excites Brian, Curtis and John.

Deidre backs up a bit, which then causes the other women to back up. She gets on the floor and does some other moves like spinning and rolling on the ground and then gets her body up and does a backbend. She kicks her right leg up and gets back and does one last pose for the guys. The other women do the same thing. The guys then applaud for them and couldn't have been more excited as to what just happened.

Europa approaches Kevin once again. "How did I do, Kevin?"

"Oh, you were great!" Kevin said breathlessly.

"Well, maybe you could see more sometime," Europa said. "Would you like that?"

"Oh, yes, definitely!" Kevin said, still really speechless.

"Okay, then," Europa said, then smiles at him.

Eric is indeed rather speechless after what just happened. He then gets up and still feels rather weird around his legs, but nonetheless, he approaches Deidre.

"Wow, you are one hell of a dancer," Eric said. "Those were some great moves."

"Thanks, sweetie, "Deidre said. "Maybe you could come down to The Peep Hole to see more sometime."

"Oh, I would like that," Eric said excitedly.

Brian, Curtis and John were speechless but really happy about the show they got.

"This was better than playing poker earlier," Brian said.

"Hell yeah!" John said. "Way better!"

Curtis doesn't know what to add but he is just glad that it all happened. Being in the safe house for the group of nerds has proven to be a very good experience for them. They haven't had a lot of luck with women, but this was definitely a good start for them, whether it was playing games with them or getting a show from them. They couldn't have been any happier about this experience, even though before, all of them, especially the women, were in the middle of a zombie outbreak and could have been killed out there. Nevertheless, they are lucky to be alive and happy about has happened to them.


	17. Kristin Harris

Kristin Harris, a very attractive showgirl, had a really long night and she remembers very little of what happened, but she got lucky that she didn't get caught up in the outbreak.

Kristin woke up in the office at the Americana Casino and had a really bad hangover from the night before and vomited in the office. She must have barely woken up when Chuck found her along with some other survivors. She thought that it could have been Josh, a guy who she partied with the night before but then realized that it wasn't. She mostly remembered him buying her a lot of drinks and went through a major bender enough that she passed out in the office of the casino.

It must have been a crazy night for her. What had happened the night before was this:

Kristin got done with her dance routine along with the other showgirls and these guys were all checking them out. Kristin needed to relax a bit and told the other girls that she'll catch up with them in a bit. These guys from a distance look in her direction.

"Hey, man," said one of the guys. "Check this out, go talk to that girl over there. Buy her a drink."

"She is pretty hot," said another guy. "I can't do it because I am getting married, but you can."

The guy who they were egging on walks up to Kristin at the bar and talks to her.

"Hi, my name is Josh. What's you name?"

"Kristin," Kristin said.

"Hey, listen, I was wondering if I could buy you a drink," Josh said. "Me and some guys are having a bachelor party and were wondering if you would like to join us."

"That sounds nice," Kristin said, still a little stressed. "But I need to go in a bit."

"Oh, come on, just stay and party with us," Josh said. "Besides, the night is young."

"Oh, okay," Kristin said a little reluctantly.

She joined in on the guys' party and danced with Josh mostly. She drank more as the night progressed and she started feeling really tipsy. Even when she got tipsy, she still wanted some more shots. Josh bought her a few shots, even though he started to see that she had enough to drink.

She was still in her right mind when Josh asked her for her number. She did give it to him but right before she started getting more wasted.

At some point, she passed out, and that was when the zombie outbreak started happening. Josh and his boys tried to act fast but noticed that they couldn't just leave Kristin right there like that. So he had to find somewhere safe to leave her. He saw a door that led into the office. Josh carried her inside and laid her on the couch. Josh's friends were yelling "Let's go" but Josh wanted to see her again. So he saw a piece of paper and a pen on the desk and wrote his number down. While she was passed out on the couch, he folded up the paper and put it in her bikini top.

"Call me sometime," Josh whispered, even though she couldn't hear him because she was still out.

Josh and friends fled the casino and closed the doors to the office completely shut so that the zombies could not go in. All of the zombies had not completely come out, so they were able to get out of there safely. Besides, Josh didn't want his friend to die in an outbreak and break the bad news this friend's fiancé.

_Damn, why did I leave her there?_

Josh wonders why he didn't just take Kristin with him but he couldn't think at that moment. The good thing he did was keep the doors shut so that she wouldn't be attacked.

Josh and friends were really lucky to get out of dodge.

Hours had passed and Kristin woke up, still in her skimpy showgirl outfit. She woke up with a really bad hangover and started vomiting in the office.

_What the hell happened? How did I get in here?_

She couldn't think straight and got back on the couch.

Man, I don't feel well. Where are Josh and his friends?

Kristin still feels a little woozy from what had happened. She started throwing up some more. Little did she know that was a camera in the office that Stacey happened to have been seeing through some video monitors.

Stacey calls Chuck and lets him know about a woman who kept throwing up in the Americana Casino. Chuck was on his way.

Kristin had no idea about the zombie outbreak while she was in the office. Good thing she was safe in there for a while.

After Chuck had brought her to the safe house, she reminds herself not to drink that much again because she has little recollection of what happened the night before. At some point, she notices a little piece of paper hanging out of her top on her right breast. She opens it up and noticed that Josh left a little note for her.

_Kristin, I know we had just met but you seem like a cool person and I want us to get to know each other. I know I left you behind but my friends and I had to get out of there as soon as possible. However, I want to see you again. Here's my number: (775) 555-1986._

_Hope we talk soon,_

_Josh_

Kristin is relieved that she is still alive and will recover from her hangover. However, she is a little happy that the guy who she partied with the night before gave her his contact information. She barely remembers giving him her number, but she also remembers that she left her phone in her purse in the dressing room. She also hopes that the other showgirls got out of there safely. She wonders if she should call her friend who works with her. She is a little worried for her.

She put the note back in her top, hoping that she'll talk to Josh again one day. She did meet some interesting people in the safe house. She is glad that she got to know Europa, Lulu and the quartet of nerds. She even played poker with Trixie-Lynn, Cora, Woodrow and Jack. She had always liked playing that game.


	18. Linette Watkins

Linette stood in the restroom looking at herself in the mirror and noticed how burnt she was from being in the tanning bed for a little longer than she needed to be.

_It could be a lot worse. I just need to put some lotion on my skin to help ease the pain._

She was trying to tan herself because she was going on a vacation with some friends of hers in a few weeks. She wanted her skin to be tan enough for the sunny weather.

She went into The Venus Touch to tan for a little bit but was in the tanning bed for a lot longer than that.

She couldn't believe that she had stayed in the tanning bed for that long. At first, she thought that the reason she didn't get out of the tanning bed in time was because of bad service. She had been into Venus Touch a few times before and the service wasn't bad at all.

Earlier before the outbreak started, Linette had gotten off of work at Brand New U. She had her bikini on underneath because she had planned on getting herself tanned. Before she took off, she remembered something about a passageway through one of the fitting rooms and saw for herself. She went down it one time and it led into the men's room of the Royal Flush Plaza. Nobody was in the restroom at that moment but she felt a little funny being in there. There was nobody outside of the restroom when she got out, so it wasn't too bad. She remembered that there was a bunker right next to the mall.

After she got off work, she went into The Venus Touch and spoke to the employee about tanning and she said that she won't be long in there.

She closed the door behind her and took off her clothes and was in her bikini and put on the tanning goggles and went into the tanning bed.

At that point, the zombies started breaking out a little more in the mall and started going after people. Even some of the looters, who still managed to defend themselves. The customers and employees ran off. The employee who spoke to Linette didn't even stop to remember that a customer was still in the tanning room.

Linette lied in the tanning bed not knowing what was going on.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?" Linette yelled. "Can anybody hear me? I need to get out now."

Linette was trapped and didn't know what to do at that moment. All she could do is lie there with no one out there to hear her. The outbreak went on without her knowledge. At some point, the tanning bed opened. She managed to break out of it and rolled off and fell to the floor. She was badly burned from it. She couldn't move much. All she could do was lie on the floor. She managed to get her upper body up a little while after that, but she could still barely move.

_Man, this is really bad. I need something to drink, fast._

Chuck got a call from Stacey, saying something about a girl who was badly burned next to a tanning bed. She also mentioned something about her barely being alive.

Linette was dehydrated from all of what happened and needed water. She also couldn't move because her skin was burnt. Chuck managed to get into the tanning room and found her sitting on the floor.

Chuck told her about the zombie outbreak and Linette was shocked to hear him say that. She initially thought that the service was bad and she needed something to drink because she was thirsty. Chuck had a half gallon of OJ with him and gave her some to drink. Chuck told her that he was going to take her to the safe house, which then led her to tell him about a secret passage she found out about before. She told him that she works at Brand New U and found the passage somewhere. Chuck then picks up some aloe from the counter of the store and they were on their way.

Chuck carried her up to the store and she pointed out the passageway. He opened up the little seat in the fitting room.

"Hey, can you stand?" Chuck said.

"Barely, why?" Linette said.

"Wrap your arms around me, this could be the best way for both of us to get down at the same time," Chuck said.

Linette wrapped her arms around Chuck. Chuck told her to hold on and they went down the passage and into the restroom in the Royal Flush Plaza.

Linette was still a little out of it, but Chuck picked up and carried her into the custodian area of the mall and into the safe house.

Linette thanked Chuck for helping her. She asked if he had some aloe to put on her skin. Good thing Chuck thought ahead because he handed the container of aloe that he picked up at The Venus Touch before taking off.

She had since put the lotion on herself and while her skin is not completely better, she can move better than before.

_That's the last time I'll tan for a long time. I think when I go on my vacation, I'm just going to put on a lot of sunscreen._


	19. Jared Davis

Jared had a close call with death earlier on because he had gotten bitten by a zombie, but luckily enough, he didn't turn too quickly. Even he was surprised about not turning too soon, same with him surviving the bite.

He had been out partying with some friends sometime before the outbreak happened. He was at the Pub O' Gold with some people and having a good time until the outbreak started. Some of the people he was with were killed in the outbreak, others turned into zombies themselves. He ran for his life and did everything he could to stay out of the sights of zombies.

He ran around the Silver Strip looking for places to hide but couldn't. The best he could do in the process was defend himself against the zombies. He used whatever he could find like wrenches and lead pipes to defend himself. He found a way to get into the Royal Flush Plaza and saw that there were zombies in there as well. The most he could do is run, hide and defend himself while he was at it.

He went onto the second floor and tried his best to avoid getting bitten but was unsuccessful as he got bit by a zombie. He screamed in pain and rain into the nearest store which was Wily Travels and just started lying on the floor and was bleeding himself.

_Oh my god, I can't believe this. I'm going to turn into a zombie. This is bad. This is bad!_

Chuck got a call from Stacey to inform of a man lying and bleeding at Wily Travels and Chuck was on his way to go and give that man some attention.

Chuck went to Wily Travels and saw Jared lying on the floor. Jared had told him that he had been bitten and that he didn't want to turn. Jared told him that he needed some Zombrex to help treat his blood transfusion before turning. Chuck noticed that he had a few syringes of Zombrex with him, mostly for Katey, but if he ran out, he could just buy some from some looter shop or find one. From now until the day the military arrives, he has enough Zombrex for her. Chuck handed Jared a syringe. He quickly injected it into his system. He felt woozy that he needed help getting to the safe house, so Chuck helped him get there.

Jared figured that there might some people at the safe house, particularly women. So he thought that this could be a chance to try to mingle with some women, despite his current condition which may never be cured, unless Phenotrans finds a cure for the infection.

Right after getting to the safe house, Jared was more than relieved that he got some Zombrex in his system. Chuck told Sullivan that Jared had been infected.

"Chuck, we can't deal with anymore infected people here," Sullivan said. "Your daughter is one thing, but we can't…"

"Look, if anything happens, we might have to do something," Chuck said. "But in the meantime, we have to keep him safe. I gave him some Zombrex."

"You better hope he has a lot because if he turns, I'll have to act fast," Sullivan said. "We cannot afford to put anybody at risk. Your daughter may be infected, but another person? If he turns, I will be forced to kill him. So you better have a lot of Zombrex for both of them, understand?"

Chuck nodded and agreed.

Jared saw some fine looking women around and went right for them, such as Bessie, Erica and Rosa, who thought he seemed cool, but they were a little high maintenance for his tastes, but it's not like he won't try talking to them again.

He saw Kristin hanging around at some point and he went to go talk to her.

"Hey there," Jared said. "My name is Jared. What's your name?"

Kristin introduced herself to Jared.

Jared asks. "So what happened to you, what brought you here?"

"I was out partying last night after my little performance routine," Kristin said. "I partied with some nice guys who were having a bachelor party for a friend of theirs. I got really shit-faced last night. I woke up in the security office in the Americana Casino, and I puked a lot."

"Sounds like you had a lot to drink," Jared said.

"Oh, you have no idea," Kristin laughed. "Man, that's the last time I'll drink for a while."

Jared and Kristin had a pretty good conversation, but Kristin had to go to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Jared made no mention to her about his condition. He didn't want to scare her off.

Jared saw some other women who drew his interests, like Lulu and Linette, as well as Terri.

Jared basically talked to a lot of women in the safe house. The nerd quartet (later on quintet) felt a little jealous about his ability to talk to the opposite sex.

Nearly a whole day has passed since he came into the safe house and suddenly, he started getting a weird feeling.

_What is happening to me? Don't tell me I'm about to turn. Man, I need some more Zombrex, fast!_

Stacey and Sullivan notice Jared getting out of the bathroom. They got out of the security room and left Katey there to continue playing her Mega Man game. They see him get into the cafeteria and are a little concerned.

"What do you think is happening?" Stacey asked. "You don't think…?"

Sullivan knows what is going on. He went to go handle some business. He saw Jared sitting at a table and approached him and pulls out his gun. Jared got a little scared at the moment and told him not to shoot and that he just needs some more Zombrex. Stacey looked really worried that he was actually going to shoot him. She quickly handed Sullivan the scanner to tell Chuck to bring Jared some Zombrex.

Chuck came to the safe house with some other survivors and with a few more syringes of Zombrex than before. After the other survivors walked away, Chuck quickly approached Sullivan.

Sullivan says, "I told you to be careful with who you bring in here, Chuck. Everyone's at risk now!"

Chuck replies. "I got this."

Chuck sees Jared standing and not looking too well.

"Bro, I don't feel so good," Jared said all sickly. "I came to party, not to freakin' eat the party, man. I need some Zombrex, dude. Bad."

Chuck hands Jared the syringe. He is more than relieved about it.

"All right! You…saved my life. I…love you, man." Jared couldn't be happier that he got some Zombrex.

Chuck responds, "Just wanted to get to you before you get hungry."

Jared injected himself with the drug. "You're funny, man! Thanks again, dude. You spot any hot girls out there?"

Jared is sure that he will bring back some more hot women. He's already mingled with a lot of hotties in the safe house but he wants to talk to some more. He better that Sven and Chuck have some more syringes for him, at least until the big rescue.

As for other women, Jared tried talking with the Guardian Angels Trio, who were somewhat of a challenge for him. He noticed Tammy, but she was already with Andy. Though he smiles at the fact that he is trying with a beauty like her.

_I'll leave her with that guy. I can see he is trying to holler at her._

He didn't see many women who didn't interest him. Even Elrod was willing to let Trixie-Lynn talk to him, though he isn't too sure about talking to redneck ladies, though she is sort of attracted to him. After all, they do have an open marriage.

Jared hopes that there is a cure for his condition. He even got some contact information from Chuck so that he could find a cure, because Chuck is still hoping for a cure for his own little girl.


	20. Tomomi Miyamoto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another exclusive survivor from "Off The Record."

After spending a lot of time in the safe house, Tomomi had some moments where she practiced and continued to train for any upcoming karate competitions that she was going to take part in. It would seem that she was going to compete in an event in Fortune City, considering that she was wearing a gi, but due to the outbreak, it was not going to happen.

What ended up happening was that she got caught up in the outbreak and managed to use her fighting skills to use against zombies. She used a lot of her skills against the zombies and killed many of them.

At some point, she went into the underground tunnels to go find somewhere safe to hide from the zombies, only to find that there were more zombies down there, as well as some mercenaries down there who TK hired.

She put up a fight against the mercenaries that TK hired. She fought against eight mercenaries who probably were going to try to jump her or do something much worse to, little did they know that Tomomi was not a woman to mess with, not in the slightest bit.

She had learned several different arts from her master, who taught her even some deadly arts. She even learned how to break hard materials with her bare hands and feet, so these guys were no match for her unarmed.

She laid a few attacks to one mercenary, which was enough to take him down and leave him in pain, but he wasn't going to give up on her. She jumped up and delivered a deadly spin kick to his face and sent the guy flying and blood looked like it started coming out of his mask.

Some of the other mercenaries look on in amazement.

"What the hell was that?" one of the mercs yelled. "Who are you, lady?"

Tomomi popped her knuckles a bit. "Your worst nightmare."

Tomomi started laying waste to all the other mercs who were ready to jump and maybe rape her, but even seven on one was not much of a fight against a woman of this caliber. It seems like these guys don't have much fighting skill. And if any of them did, it didn't match the skills that Tomomi had. She delivered a deadly chop to a mercenary's throat which was enough to kill him. She even delivered a few massive kicks to the skulls of the other mercenaries and that was more than enough to keep them down, if they weren't fatal.

Stacey looked at the monitor and called Frank to let him know about a woman fighting off some mercenaries single-handedly. Frank was on his way to go find Tomomi.

A few other mercenaries came out and could not believe their eyes. One woman took out eight fellow mercs with her martial arts skills. They figure that fighting her hand-to-hand will not work, so they tried taking the easy way out by trying to shoot her. They all took out their guns.

_Oh shit. They're not fighting fair._

Tomomi didn't know what else to do at that moment. The mercs decided to fight dirty by trying to shoot an unarmed martial artist, but she quickly ran away to hide from the gunfire. At that point, Frank came out and had a Laser Sword with him, as well as a Defiler and Spiked Bat. Frank used the Laser Sword to take down the other mercs who trying to shoot Tomomi. Frank was successful in taking them down.

He then approaches Tomomi to talk to her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Frank asked.

Tomomi notices that the other three mercenaries who were armed are now dead.

"Oh, you took care of them," Tomomi said, relieved. "I am fine. If those cowards did not have weapons, my fists would have brought them all to an end."

Frank couldn't be anymore impressed by the bodies lying there at the hands of Tomomi.

"You sure were taking care of business," Frank said, still impressed. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Tomomi responded. "I'm a world champion in many deadly arts. Master taught me well."

"I'll say!" Frank said. "Well…I can show you how to get to the safe house. Keep close, though, there are plenty of zombies to fight."

"I hope your skill can match mine," Tomomi said as she joins Frank to head to the safe house.

Heading to the safe house was not going to be hard for Tomomi. She managed to kill a few zombies with her bare hands like she did before. She even refused to use weapons along the way, even though she is proficient to using weapons.

After she got to the safe house, she had to relax a bit after what she had been through. She fought a lot of zombies and mercenaries. She went into the restroom to scrub some of the blood off of her. She got some blood on her gi as well.

_This is worse than that time I got blood on my face from my opponent in that match I took part in a while back. It's no big deal, though._

The quintet of nerds look up at her and can't help but notice that she had been through a lot, but also look at her in admiration. Eric can't believe that a legit martial artist is in his presence, as he is mostly used to playing as martial artists in video games.

He walks up to her a little nervously to talk to her.

"Hey, excuse me," Eric said. "I don't want to be rude, but are you a martial artist?"

Despite Eric's fears, Tomomi was actually a little respectful towards him. "Yes, indeed I am. I know many different arts."

Eric is impressed. "What kind of moves can you do?"

"Different kinds, and no, I can't do fireballs," Tomomi said and laughed.

Eric laughed a little as well. "I heard that you fought off a lot of zombies with your bare hands."

"You really don't know the half of it," Tomomi said.

Eric went back to his group of friends he had made. He told them how cool Tomomi is, not to mention that he finds her attractive.

Tomomi even came into contact with the Guardian Angels trio, who also are skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but are a little jealous of the skills that Tomomi employs. Not negatively jealous, but jealous and admiring of her skills at the same time.

Tomomi used this time in the safe house to try to think about any upcoming competitions that will be held in the future.


	21. Europa Westinghouse

Europa, a rich socialite and model, was staying at the Fortune City Hotel before the zombie outbreak started. She was there to go on vacation and also there to see the "Terror Is Reality" event that took place around the time of the zombie outbreak.

At some point, while in her hotel room, Europa had gotten out of the shower and put on her bra and panties. She noticed that she needed to get some ice for some reason. She went out into the hall of the hotel, undressed and not carrying her keycard because she had left it on lying on the table in the room. She tried to keep the door open with a trash can because she was only going and come back and the ice machine was close to her room.

She had the bucket of ice in her hand and noticed that the door closed right behind her and it was locked.

_Damn, why did this happen? And I am in my underwear, too. Oh well, I might have to go down to the lobby for some help._

She left the bucket right by the door and headed for the elevators to go down to the lobby. She needed to get back to her room to put on some clothes.

Once the elevator reached the first floor, she gets out of the elevator and is scared to see that there are zombies everywhere.

_What the hell is all this? Where did all these zombies come from?! Oh my god! I'm in my underwear! What if someone sees me?_

Europa is scared that there are zombies around, but she seems more mortified that she is in her underwear. She decides to hide from the zombies in the planter right by the elevators.

Stacey looks on the video monitor and sees her hiding. She tells Chuck that there is a woman hiding in the hotel. Chuck went to go find her in the hotel lobby hiding behind some plants, and covering up in embarrassment.

Chuck talked to her to convince her to come along with him, but she was embarrassed to go out walking in public in her underwear. Rather than ask Chuck to get her some clothes, she convinced him to go and walk around in his underwear so that they she won't feel as embarrassed anymore.

She even asked him to carry her on his back because she felt that the ground was cold.

She was less embarrassed than before, but when they got to the safe house, it all went to back to how it started for her. Being seen in her underwear in the safe house definitely drew some attention on her.

Even though Linette and Kristin were seen wearing as little as she is, Europa was still a little uncomfortable being seen in her bra and panties. Linette just wore a bikini, as did Kristin. Europa has worn a bikini many times when going to the beach or swimming, but in her case, it's different when she is in underwear as opposed to swimwear.

Europa received some attention from the quartet of nerds, who aren't that good with women. She even talked with Jared, who was quick to talk to a woman he finds attractive. She still felt awkward but after a while, it wasn't too bad.

She wondered why she didn't ask Chuck to get her some clothes, but nonetheless, she started feeling a little more comfortable after a while, especially for some reason, she started getting a crush on Kevin, one of the nerds. Kevin is attracted to her, too, but felt a little uneasy around her.

She even talked with Erica, who is a fashion journalist, and her friends, Bessie and Rosa. She is a rich woman like the three women are, so she was able to identify with them.

She even shared an interest with Vikki in nature and plants.

Though it was still embarrassing to be walking around in her underwear, she wasn't as uncomfortable as she was before. She got along with some people and was surprised herself that she became attracted to Kevin, who usually isn't the type of guy she goes for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one may seem a bit ridiculous, but really, this survivor was actually pretty weird herself. I mean seriously, if I was caught in a zombie outbreak and I was naked, I would care more about surviving than being without clothes.


	22. Chad and Doris Elchart

Chad and his wife Doris found themselves in a bad situation when the zombie outbreak started. The couple had arrived in Fortune City to see Terror Is Reality. They traveled from Texas to go see this event.

Chad was a rich businessman who married a beautiful blonde named Doris who was also a model before meeting him. Chad was divorced from his ex-wife and the mother of his children, as well as grandmother to his grandchildren.

Upon arriving in Fortune City, Chad and Doris got some good seats at the event. They went to see the event and enjoyed themselves, but then things started taking a turn for the worse when the zombie outbreak started.

"Chad, what is going on?" Doris yelled towards her husband. "There are zombies everywhere!"

"I don't know, honey," Chad said. "Stay calm, we're going to get out of this."

Chad and Doris started making a break for it. With a lot of zombies coming out of nowhere, they had no choice but to try to run from the outbreak. Chad, despite his age, is actually in good shape that he managed to run fast enough from the Fortune City Arena. Doris tried running as well, but couldn't get very far because of her shoes.

Damn stilettos! Oh well, I am not going to stand here and die. No way!

Doris sees that more zombies keep coming out and she is just left alone right near the entrance of the arena. She saw a pistol lying around, probably a cop or security guard left it lying around, and surprisingly, she saw a few loaded clips lying there as well. She picked up the gun and the clips and then climbed up the souvenir stand where she found some firecrackers on there.

Doris started firing away at many zombies in the head to ensure that they stay down.

_I'm glad I went to the shooting range those times._

Doris couldn't believe that she is putting her skills that she learned at shooting ranges to use and those skills are doing wonders for her. She ran out of bullets in the gun. Before she could reload the gun, she picked up the firecrackers and lit them up before throwing them at the zombies. The firecrackers managed to explode right in the faces of two zombies and it blew them back a little.

Doris reloads the gun and starts shooting again.

Chad was still running around to find something to use against the zombies until he found a shotgun lying around.

_This should be useful. It's time to go to work._

Chad had a lot of shells on in the shotgun. He started blasting a lot of zombies left and right.

The one thing he just realized is that Doris isn't with him. He started getting worried about her all of a sudden.

_Where could she be?! I gotta find her!_

Out of nowhere, Chuck exits the arena and sees an attractive blonde woman on top the souvenir stand. He approaches her but not before taking out a few zombies in the process.

Doris throws some more firecrackers at the zombies, but it isn't helping her get rid of them like before, though it is proving useful in another way.

"Heh, these firecrackers are great for luring zombies into my sights!" Doris yelled. "That's right, you undead son of a bitches! Keep goin' to those flashy lights and loud noises! Doris is too smart for suckers like you!"

Doris still kept on firing away at them. Chuck looks up at her and goes towards the back of the stand and climbs it to talk to her.

Doris turns around and sees Chuck. "Whoa! A live one! You must know how to take care of yourself, handsome."

Chuck tells her that she shouldn't be out here and that she should follow her to the safe house.

"Appreciate the thought, stranger," Doris said while reloading the pistol once again. "But I ain't going nowheres until my man Chad finds me here. We were headed towards the park before we got separated. Please tell him I'm here if you happen to find him."

Chuck asked her what he looked like. She described him as an older fellow wearing a gray suit and cowboy hat. That's all she gave him, but Chuck wasted no time to go and look for him.

Chuck ran up the stairs and went into the Platinum Strip, where he finds a man fitting the description Doris gave him. Chad was still fighting off the zombies. He went up the stairs of the diner that was surrounded by the zombies. Chuck tried getting Chad's attention, but was too busy shooting zombies.

Chuck got closer and tried getting Chad's attention again. This time, Chad acknowledged his presence.

"Not now, mister!" Chad yelled. "Help me kill here these zombies, then we can chew the fat!"

Chuck carried his Pole Weapon. He started slashing the zombies that were near and killed them. Chad still kept on shooting them until they were clear of them, for now.

"Woooooeeeee! Blazes, it's a real live one!" Chad seemed surprised at another living person being right there. "Brother, am I ever glad to see you!"

Chuck tried telling him that it's not safe out here.

"I ain't going nowhere until I find my Doris!" Chad said. "You look like you've been around this mess. You ain't seen my darlin' Doris, have ya?"

Chuck responds. "Actually, I've met a woman by the arena looking for her husband. You must be Chad. Come on, I can show you where she is."

"You found my Doris?" Chad said. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? Let's go!"

Chad reloaded the shotgun once again and starts following Chuck in the direction of the arena.

From the distance on top of the stairs facing the arena, Chad sees Doris on top of the souvenir stand.

"That's my Doris over there!" Chad said. "And she is kicking ass!"

Chad is so amazed that Doris is holding her own against the zombies. He feels that he taught her well in handling a gun and taking care of herself in certain situations.

As they got closer to her, Chad looks up at her and Doris looks down at him. Doris gets down from the souvenir stand and the two continue firing away at the zombies. As soon as it cleared up, they hug each other.

Chuck then approaches them and talks to them and tells them to follow him to the safe house.

"Wait just a doggone minute! I thought you looked familiar before," Doris said. "Yer that fella from the TV! You started this here outbreak! I ought to blow yer damn head off!"

Doris points her gun to Chuck, but then he explains that it wasn't him and that he had been set up. Chad tells Doris to put the gun down.

"Well, I guess if you helped my Chad find this here needle in this haystack, you must be an okay fella," Doris said.

Doris then joins Chad and Chuck. She follows them to the safe house. Along the way, they still continue to fight off the zombies with the guns they were using. When they entered the Royal Flush Plaza, they noticed that they were low on rounds. They start a few zombies before emptying their weapons right before entering the door into the maintenance area of the mall and dropped them and proceeded to follow Chuck into the bunker.

Chad and Doris entered the safe house and see that they aren't the only ones who were lucky to survive the outbreak.

"Man, am I glad to see that there are more live ones," Chad said.

"Yeah, I'll say," Doris said. "Man, I need to cool off a bit."

Doris went into the restroom to rinse her face a bit. She had been in the sun for too long and got really sweaty from the heat and the pressure from fighting the zombies. She is glad that she is still alive and held her own out there.

Chad went somewhere to go sit down and think about what he had gone through. He and Doris just fought off lots of zombies. They held their own, but Chad started thinking about what if he lost his wife.

_Many people have told me that Doris married me for my money. I know that she is more than three decades younger than me and people call her a trophy wife, but I really do love her. Sure, she is younger than my kids and I know my daughters were upset when their mother and I got divorced, and even more upset when I married a woman younger than them, but the truth is, after a while, my ex-wife and I had some problems. I remember when I first brought Doris around, my son went up to try to talk to her but then I told him that she is my woman. He even felt a little weird that at some point, a woman his own age would one day be his stepmother._

_They came around after a while. They saw that I truly do love Doris and came to accept her as part of the family._

_I was worried that I had lost her, but I am glad that I taught her how to fire a gun in case something bad were to happen._

Doris continued to rinse her face and started thinking about what she had gone through.

_It is not easy being married to a guy who is rich and old enough to be my dad. Before meeting Chad, I worked as a waitress at a bar in Texas and I also worked as a model. I modeled swimwear, lingerie and clothes in general. I mostly got hired because of my pretty face and body._

_Chad and I had been married for about a year. We had been together for about 2-3 years before getting married. I still remember when he first brought me around and introduced me to his three kids. I was able to see in his two daughters' eyes that didn't like me at first. They are only a few years older than me, they have kids of their own as well. Chad's son, however, was attracted to me, but even he felt a little strange because he saw that I was the same age as him._

_Chad's kids called me a "trophy wife" even before we married. His daughters quickly assumed that I was marrying him for his money. It was not like that at all. Chad is the one guy who treated me with respect. When I worked as a waitress, it was hard dealing with creepy customers who were drunk of their asses and trying to hit on me._

_Chad showed me how to defend myself, how to fire a gun and a lot more. I am very lucky to be alive and I was amazed at how I managed to kill all those zombies out there. I thought I was going to die when Chad left me alone, even though it was not his fault. Lucky for me, I put my skills to use that he taught me. This was actually my first time firing a gun at something._

Doris got out of the restroom and went to go look for Chad. She drew attention on some male survivors, who are admiring her attractiveness.

She found Chad sitting in the cafeteria. Chad got up and hugged and sat down and talked about what they had gone through. Chad told his wife that he is proud of her for holding her own out there. He said that he was worried but she told him that it was her first time killing something. They smiled at each other.


	23. Andy and Tammy (Part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went a different direction than the other two chapters on these two characters.

Throughout the many hours that Andy had spent in the safe house, especially with Tammy by his side, he finally decided to give himself a rest after what he had gone through.

Andy had gone out into the outbreak to get Tammy some items that she may have needed, despite being told that it wasn't safe out there for him to be. After coming back for the second time and being luckier than the first time he had gone out there, Andy started to think about what Tammy had said.

_I know that she is worried about me. We barely know each other, but with the amount of hours that we have spent together, I feel that we have a connection, but I can see that she is concerned about me._

_I was so close to killing myself earlier. I held my own out there with that shotgun and I am damn lucky to still be alive after having gone out there to get Tammy some things. She understood why I wanted to get her some pants because she had no way of walking at first. She was wearing her mermaid tail that was a part of her costume._

_She told me that I was sweet to carry her and to get some things for her, but when she was telling me how concerned about me she was, she was right. I started thinking back to before when I was close to committing suicide. Chuck and I had that long conversation about how I would be safe but I would still see the zombies despite being in a safe place, it's like I couldn't escape them despite them not physically being there. I couldn't handle any of it anymore and thought about ending it all right there. When Chuck convinced me to go with him, I was reluctant about it, and then came the moment we stepped into the Atlantica Casino._

_I saw Tammy right there with little ability to move. I noticed that I wasn't the only one who was in a situation of being among zombies. She was another person who was in danger of being eaten alive by zombies. Chuck talked to her but I looked at her and I saw a helpless girl just sitting there. She was beautiful and I felt like I wanted to do something to help get my mind off my suicidal tendencies. I also immediately felt something for her._

_Chuck said he would carry her, but I told him no, and I wanted to do it. Chuck tried to say otherwise but I said that I should try to get over my trauma any way that I can and this was an opportunity for me. I even handed him the shotgun I was using, I didn't trust myself with it. I went up to the fountain where Tammy was lying and I picked her up. She looked at me with awe, like I was risking my life for someone or like I was a hero of some sort, or maybe a nice guy._

Tammy walked back to the room where she and Andy were in from the bathroom. She walked in and found Andy sitting on the couch looking down at the ground. She looked at him and tried to get closer to him.

"Andy, is something wrong?" Tammy asked him. She had this look of concern on her face as she got closer to him.

"Oh, I was just thinking of some stuff," Andy said, trying yet again to hide his emotions.

"Look, Andy, you've done a lot, especially for me," Tammy said. "I think you should get some rest. I mean I appreciate all that you have done for me. You got some clothes for me, you even got me my purse back with my stuff like my cellphone and my credit cards. I couldn't thank you enough for doing that, but I have to tell you that what you did was just crazy."

"Yeah, I know," Andy said. "I realize that, and you were right from what you told me earlier, how when I went back out there again, I may have still had my suicidal feelings. I mean what I went through before, that was just some crazy shit right there. I couldn't begin to think how I considered killing myself."

Tammy got closer to Andy and kneeled down a bit.

"Things like this happen, but when you went back out there, I was really scared for you," Tammy said. She started to touch his face a bit. "You are sweet for what you did and I can see that you were brave to do that."

"Oh, I would not say that," Andy said quickly and started looking away from her.

"What do you mean? Which part?" Tammy said, confusedly.

"I mean the part about me being brave," Andy said. "I mean there was a brave side of me, but deep down, I was also scared. When I went to get you your pants and stuff the first time, I felt a little scared. Do you want to know what I did in the process?"

"Well, being that I see how there's a lot of blood on your clothes, I can say that you managed to fight off some zombies," Tammy said.

"Right, but I had a few close calls with some zombies as well," Andy said. "Sure, I managed to fight some of them off, but more of them still kept coming. I was all drenched in blood when I got back both times. I am surprised that the security guy or even that CURE woman didn't say anything about me going out there. I don't think they knew I left."

"Wait, what?" Tammy said. "The security guy sitting by the stairs near that ventilation duct didn't see you leave?"

"If he did, he would have stopped me from leaving," Andy said. "I saw that security guy talking with that one girl who was in the security room with that little girl and that tiger."

Tammy is amazed at how successful he was in sneaking off like that.

"Look, Andy, you're a sweet guy and I like you, but what I think you should do is get some sleep," Tammy said. "You really need some rest."

"Thank you, Tammy, I like you, too," Andy said. "I really do need to get some rest."

Andy starts to lean to his left and then starts to lie down. He then extends his legs and feet. He falls asleep soon after.

Tammy looks at him with a bit of concern but smiles a little in the process. With all of the time she had spent with Andy in the safe house, she really thinks that he has a genuine interest in him and really wants to get to know him.

She got out of the room for just a little bit to go walk around for a little while.

Andy is sleeping and starts to toss and turn a little bit.

_Wait, what the hell happened? Why am I in the Palisades Mall? Fuck, why I am I here? Did Tammy ask me to get something for her? No, wait, she never asked me for the things I got her. I got them for her on my own._

Next thing Andy sees is a horde of zombies coming from all sides. Andy tries to run for it as fast as he can. He picks up a shotgun left on the ground and tries shooting at them but the zombies are not dying easily like before.

What the hell is this?

Andy tried shooting the zombies some more but the zombies still won't die. He then ran out of shells in the weapon. He tried running again until he tripped and fell onto a planter. The zombies then got closer to him and started surrounding him. He faced a zombie with a look of "Oh no" on his face.

_Oh, shit, I'm dead!_

The zombies started to bite him and eat him alive.

Andy then wakes up and quickly gets up. At the right moment, Tammy has come back from her little walk around the safe house. She sees Andy breathing pretty hard. He starts yelling a bit and then Tammy comes closer to him and tries to calm him down.

"Andy, are you okay?" Tammy said. "What happened?"

"Oh, thank god, I'm okay," Andy said. "I thought I got eaten alive by zombies."

"You must have had a nightmare," Tammy said. She then hugs him. "We're safe in here. No zombies will come and get us. It's okay."

Tammy still had her arms wrapped around him and was patting him on the back trying to get him to calm down. Andy was starting to calm down, and was also getting a funny feeling from her. He started to smile a bit.

"It's okay, Andy," Tammy said while still trying to calm him down. "It's all in your head. You'll be fine. Trust me, I'm here for you."

The two face each other while still hugging each other and they then kiss each other and like before, it just sort of happened. They got apart and looked at each other with some confusion, wondering how it all happened. Then they kissed each other again, this time they knew what they were doing.

"Andy, I feel that you should go back to sleep," Tammy said. "I'll be right here."

Andy doesn't say anything but just nods his head, though he is blushing from what just happened. He lies back on the couch and tries to sleep again.

Tammy sat on a chair next to Andy, just to make sure she tends to him if he has another nightmare. Tammy starts thinking about all the time she had spent with Andy.

_This has been an interesting experience for me. I meet this guy who I was able to see was attracted to me from the moment we've met, and I was also able to see that this guy that this guy wanted to carry me because he felt that there were some people out there who wanted to live and survive the outbreak. He told me about how suicidal he was prior to meeting me, even though part of me suspected that he was still suicidal when he went out to go get some stuff for me. That takes guts to do that, especially when both of us could have died out there, but I don't doubt that he did that because maybe a part of him still wanted to die._

_I know it sounds like Andy is crazy, but I still can't help how I feel about him. I knew I had to say yes when he asked me on a date, I knew I had to give him my phone number, I knew that there was something about him that I liked. He was sweet enough to get me my personal items and brave yet scared to go out there and fight zombies while trying to get those items. However, I learned that trauma doesn't go away quickly. Trauma is a serious thing and that is why I am trying to help him get through it. I have seen some people out who never get over trauma enough that they have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder._

_I can't even begin to think of how this guy managed to live through the zombie outbreak throughout the times he went out there. He has not gone out there. I have all the things I need and if Andy were to try going out there for a third time, he might not be so lucky. He has promised me that he would not go out there again, and he has stuck by that._

_What is it about him that I like? He is a handsome guy, I will say that. He is a sweetheart and he has a lot of courage to do some things that I know other guys who I have dated wouldn't have done. Some of the guys who I have dated in the past were male models, gym rats and wannabe thugs. He is different than all of them. I could not imagine any of them going out and fighting zombies like this guy could, I couldn't imagine them carrying me like Andy did._

_I don't know him that well, but we have spent a lot of hours together and we have talked a lot and I can say that I like him, and I like him enough that I want to help him. I think when we get out of this zombie situation, I can call a shrink who can help him. Andy needs help and I will see that he gets it._

_I can see now that he is sleeping and probably not having any more bad dreams. Now I'm starting to feel tired._

Tammy pushed Andy's body up on the couch and surprisingly, Andy slept through it, but was partially awake through it. Tammy then sat on the couch and puts her arms around him and leans on him. Andy is still partially awake and he then puts his arm around her.

Tammy started having a dream about how her and Andy getting themselves into yet another situation involving zombies. Except this time, Andy is protecting her with all his might and she even starts killing some zombies herself after learning a few things from Andy.

While Tammy was sleeping, she smiled a bit.


	24. Andy's Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy started getting flashbacks about what he had gone through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a few minor changes compared to the original version on FFnet.

With all of the mess that Andy had gone through for the past few days, he questioned his own mental state, being that he not only considered killing himself, but also went on two suicide missions to get some things for a girl he had just met, and also liked.

There is no question that the two occasions he left the safe house to go out and pick up stuff were indeed crazy, if stupid, but what could have led Andy to go on those suicide missions? He may like Tammy, as he was interested in her the moment he laid eyes on her, but nobody could let go of trauma just like that. Not that quickly anyway. There may have been signs that he was ready to end his life despite having that discussion with Chuck.

After a few hours of sleeping with Tammy by his side, Andy's eyes opened and from that moment, he stared directly at the wall, despite Tammy's right arm wrapped around his torso, and her head pressed against his right shoulder while she was still sleeping. Even with her right there, Andy looking straight ahead in a state of trance. Not even a beauty like Tammy could make Andy's mind shift away from anything else.

Not wanting to wake up Tammy, Andy slowly moved his left foot forward and scooted his body towards his left and pushed his body up. Hoping that Tammy would not wake up from Andy's movement, he kept an eye on her. As soon as he got up from the couch, he looked toward his love interest, whose body had fallen to her left but was still asleep through the movement that Andy made.

_She must have been really tired._ Andy thought as he looked right at her as he was about to exit the room that they were in. He needed to clear his head a bit.

Could Tammy be the reason that he may not feel so suicidal anymore? He was not sure what the deal was.

Andy walked up a flight of stairs and headed to cafeteria. Right when he got there, he turned his head to the right of him, noticing the ventilation duct, the same area where he entered and exited the safe house.

_Do I really want to go back out there? I have nothing left to get Tammy, and she told me not to go out there again. I probably wouldn't be lucky this time. Maybe that would be the point of it all? Or do I really want to live? I barely know this girl, but from all the time we had spent together, maybe there is a reason for me to live. The way she looked at me, the way she talked to me, there is no reason for me to go back out there._

It was then Andy decided to recount all of the events that led him up to this point. It had all started when the outbreak started at the Fortune City Arena.

* * *

**Flashback 1:**

Andy had attended the Terror is Reality event a few days prior. He was there to watch the show. He attended the event with his half-brother, Adrian Lee. They had a strong resemblance to one another, but were only half-brothers because they had the same father but different mothers.

Sometime before the event had ended, he had to go to the bathroom. For some reason, he went in the direction of where the dressing rooms were. Andy went into a stall to go handle his business, looking to the wall, just minding his own business, until he heard a thud on the ground.

"What the hell?" Andy said, as he heard some strange sounds outside the stall. Andy opened the door to the bathroom stall, slowly peaked outside and saw a man on the floor, scared out of his mind, but his hands were gripping something Andy, nor the man, would ever thought they'd ever see: a zombie.

Wasting no time, Andy ran towards the man and the zombie, and picked up a trash can, that was lying on the floor and clocked the zombie in the head with it. The most it did was cause it to let go of the man, but with the zombie now turning its attention to Andy, the man just decided to run for his life right then.

Andy, on the other hand, looked directly at the zombie in the eye, and thought fast. He decided to get out of the restroom as fast as he could. He ran really quickly. He ran through an area where the dressing rooms were, including an elevator that was jammed right at that moment, and saw a man wearing a letterman jacket slowly turning into a zombie.

With so many zombies in his sight, he looked around to find something to defend himself with, like a fire axe. Several groups of zombies surrounding many innocent people at that moment, when he was in the hallway, as well as the arena lobby, which was full of zombies everywhere.

_What the hell is going on here? I am not going to die, not like this. Wait, I should go back for Adrian. I hope he is okay._

Andy hit some zombies who started to approach him and surround him. Andy ran as fast as he could and if he had to, he hurdled over some, as well as slid under a few. He reached the front door of the arena, which led to the Platinum Strip. As he opened the door, he had focused on closing the door as quickly as he could that he turned and pushed the door shut so that no zombies follow him outside. Once he shut the door, he said "whew!" out of relief, only to look up and see that being outside was not as safe as he hoped.

_What, more of them? Shit!_

Andy did only what he could do, and that was run for his life. While he saw other people running towards a certain direction near a bar, he decided to try heading to a parking garage, where his car was. Andy ran fast, and was able to maintain his speed without running out of breath, as well as run faster at times. 

Andy was an expert runner, as he had a background in track-and-field and cross country from his high school days. Once he reached the parking garage, it was full of zombies everywhere that he could not get to his car even if he tried fighting them in his way.

Andy yelled while he had both of his hands on both sides of his head and swung his right hand forward that he let go of the fire axe he carried, and it flew towards a zombie, killing it in the process. Andy looked up and realized that he threw the axe at the zombie. He tried to go retrieve it, only to see that many zombies were now crowding the zombie's corpse. Realizing that it was unsafe to pick it up, Andy just took off right then.

Andy went back to the strip, only to think about what he needed to at that very moment. He needed to go back to the arena area to look for his brother. He went inside and the entire lobby area was crawling with zombies. He yelled Adrian's name a few times but to no answer. Lots of screams were heard and kept on taking down a few zombies, until he came across a downed body with dark cargo shorts, a black T-shirt and a long-sleeved white shirt underneath. The body had zombies all over the person. Andy whacked a few of them with whatever he could find. But it didn't matter. Though he saw that Adrian was still breathing, he had some bite marks all over him. There was a good chance that he was going to turn at that moment.

"Andy, go, don't worry about me," Adrian said.

"You're my brother, I'm not leaving you here," Andy said.

"Just go, it's too late for me," Adrian said.

"I can't do that!" Andy didn't want to cooperate, but after seeing more zombies come towards Adrian's body on the ground and Andy as well, Adrian yelled at Andy to go save himself. He had no choice but to comply and took off running. 

Back in the present and in the safe house, Andy sat in the cafeteria and faced the windows, still looking at the ventilation duct, thinking about the other things he went through during those days.

_It's weird how at first I wanted to live. Hold up, I still want to live, but at the same time, why do I still feel like I can't handle life anymore? The first time I went to go get Tammy some pants and underwear so that she can walk, I did it because I felt something for her, but that was not the only reason. Even if I had gotten eaten alive when I was out there, it would not have mattered to me. I still felt like I wanted to kill myself, and this was only hours after I had carried Tammy to the safe house. I even stayed in the room she was in. Why? Why was I concerned about her? Why did I feel for someone when I saw other people die before my very eyes earlier? The girl is gorgeous, no doubt, but she was one of the first people who I saw who had no way of fighting back against zombies, especially because she looked so helpless, so I wanted to help her. That reminds me…_

* * *

**Flashback 2:**

Andy then recounted another situation he was in. Sometime after the start of the outbreak, he managed to keep himself by protecting himself. He picked up guns off the ground, even used anything he could find to protect himself, and also picked up food if he good hungry, no matter if they were spoiled or stale. At some point, he went to the Palisades Mall. He had entered there through a backdoor the he found by going through Hot Excitorama. Considering there was a lot of room in the mall, he was surprised to find a few other people who were still alive in the mall, but it was not much help for him.

Andy just walked slowly around the mall right when he went up the steps near a maintenance room. He saw that there was a lot of room in there, and while zombies were present, it wasn't as bad as it was outside. As he walked around, he was knocked down from behind. He looked up and saw some men who wore gray hoodies and bandanas on their faces. One of them held a crowbar, another held a flashlight and another held a baseball bat.

"Give me your money!" one of them said, demanding that he hand over his wallet.

Even though they were not armed with high-powered weapons, Andy felt scared at that moment. He thought that he should be glad that there were more survivors still alive, but he saw that some of them were only seizing opportunities to mug people. Andy didn't want to hand over the money, so one of the looters kicked him and took his wallet and took his money. The looters then turned around and walked away.

Angry at what had just happened Andy got up and ran after the one who took his money from him. He threw a hard punch to the guy and knocked him down, only for the other looters to jump Andy right then. The anger inside of him only clouded his judgment at that point. He did not stop to think about the consequences, especially with two other men in the group.

The looters started to beat up Andy, who could not defend himself at that moment. One looter picked him up and held his arms back, so that the looter could hit Andy in the gut with his crowbar. After being hit in the gut, Andy got on his knees and held himself up with his left palm touching the floor, but coughed at the pain he felt from the impact of the attack. Andy moved his head to look up, only to see that the looter was about to swing the crowbar right to him. Andy could not anything then, as he was about to accept that he made a stupid move at that moment and how he was about to pay the consequences. And then the looter was attacked out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Andy noticed that the other two looters were attacked, but not just by anybody, though. He noticed that these three women had the looks of models. One wore a black cowboy hat, white jacket and oddly enough, a bikini underneath. Another woman wore a bikini top with baggy white pants and what looked like a sash for a belt. And finally, the other woman wore what looked like a black sports bra and tight black pants. However, these women looked like they knew how to fight, as they beat up the three looters without breaking a sweat.

Andy was amazed by what he saw. The woman with the hat, who seemed like the leader of their pack, walked up to him and put out her hand to help Andy get up.

"Are you okay?" said the woman. "Those guys looked like they messed you up."

"I kind of deserved it," Andy said. "But thank you."

"You're welcome," said the woman. "My name is Cora." Pointing to the girl in the white pants, "This is Summer," and pointing to the girl dressed in black, "and this is Nina. We are the Guardian Angels."

Andy looked at all three women, and smiled a bit, implying that he thinks that all three women are attractive.

"Hi there, and thanks for your help," Andy said. "I would have been dead right if you had not saved me."

"Oh, it was nothing," Cora said. "We could still protect you, but there is a price required for us."

"What do you mean?" Andy asked.

"What I mean is that we don't just protect anybody," Cora said. "We charge our clients. It's how we do things. Our price is $10,000."

Andy went up to the looter who jacked him and took the money from his wallet, along with the other two looters and emptied their pockets. With all of the money he got out, he counted the money that was there.

He had exactly the amount that they charged, if a little more, but then looked at them.

"I'm a little short of the cash, so you can't protect me," Andy said.

"What do you mean?" Cora said. "Even if you don't have the right amount, we'll make an exception. Come on, look around you."

Andy looked around saw some zombies around.

"It's okay, I don't think I need your help, I'll be fine," Andy said, not wanting to take their offer.

Andy turned around and walked away with no hesitation. While the three women were a little confused about all of this, considering he may have turned down an offer that may include more than just protection. But there may have been something else to it. Besides, he had managed to protect himself for a while then, so why should he need three bodyguards to protect him, especially if the women are wearing revealing clothing?

"What was that about?" Nina said. "He just walked away like that. In this situation with all the zombies, we would have taken however much he gave us."

"I would have thought that he would have begged for our help," Summer said. "He was kind of cute, too."

"I don't know, something must be up with that guy," Cora said. "He said he deserved getting his ass kicked and didn't seem all that shaken up over being jumped like that."

Cora and the other two women looked at their would-have-been client at that moment all puzzled.

Right when he got up to the second floor, he turned his attention to the three bodyguards and noticed that even started fighting zombies with their bare hands and was impressed, but at the same time, he is not upset. He then looked up and noticed a gun store.

"Hmmmm," Andy said. He then raced to the gun store and found some weapons he could use, but there was one that stood out to him: a shotgun. "This will have to do."

He then picked up a few shotgun shells in case he had to reload ammo, and went on his way to fight other zombies.

No matter how many zombies he killed, many more kept coming at him. He had a few close calls with death. It led to the point where a bunch of zombies went after him and he had to climb to the top of some slots.

_I felt it was the end at that point._

When he was on top of the slots for a while, there was only one shell left. He had contemplated using that last shell on himself, to end his life right then and there…until Chuck came to talk to him, and then led him to a sign of chance right then.

* * *

Back at the safe house, he walked around and saw the three bodyguards just standing around. One of them looked up and saw him walking by.

"Hey, isn't that the guy who we saw in the mall before?" Nina said.

"Yeah, that's him, and he looks like shit right now," Summer said.

"Oh my god, he looks pretty bad," Cora said. She noticed Andy's orange shirt and saw that he had a lot of bloodstains on his shirt, as well as on his jeans. She even looked directly at him and she saw that he looked like he had stuff on his mind.

"Hey, Andy, is it?" Cora said as he approached the trio without hesitation.

"Oh, hey, fancy seeing you three here," Andy said. "How did you girls get here?"

"That guy, Chuck, led us to this place," Summer said. "He paid us and we protected him."

"Wait, he PAID you?" Andy said. "You girls were about to make an exception for me. What was the difference with this guy? He led me and this girl I like here."

Summer's eyes got a little big just hearing him say that.

"Well, we were able to see that Chuck had been dealing with a lot of zombies and bringing people here, but he seemed really brave about it," Cora said. "You, while we could tell you have been out there fighting zombies, I kind of sensed something a bit…odd about you. You didn't get scared or shaken about those three thugs jumping you. What happened to you?"

"Let's just say that I've been through a lot these past few days," Andy said. "I could say that I went out there twice to go get some items for that one girl. It's not impossible to say that I did this because of my depression and trauma."

"Wait, you were trying to…?" Nina said, figuring out what Andy got at.

"Maybe, but I think I have done enough to cope with my pain," Andy said. "Besides, the second time I went out there, I think there was a bigger chance that I would have died."

Cora, Nina and Summer looked at him all confusedly. Nina put her hand to her mouth, not knowing what to think. Summer looked down and shook her head. Cora shook her head, but was a little upset about what this guy had gone through especially being that he declined their offer.

"Just be glad that you're safe and alive," Cora said.

"Thanks, and thanks again for earlier," Andy said. He walked away and back to the room he and Tammy were in.

"I can't believe that he was about to kill himself," Nina said.

"Me neither, but I can't believe that he met someone here," Summer said. "That guy was cute, and I wanted to give him more than just protection."

Cora and Nina look at their colleague with their mouths open a little. Both of their faces started to smile a bit from they heard her say.

"What?" Summer said.

"Nothing," Nina said, who put her hand to her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing.

Andy got back to the room, and noticed that Tammy was still asleep. Andy lifted Tammy's body, and she still slept through all of it. He leaned her body towards him, and kissed her right on the cheek.

The kiss then woke up Tammy a bit, and then looked toward Andy, and smiled at him, and he smiled back at her.


	25. Tape It or Die: Fortune Edition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is different than the previous chapters, as this chapter is written as separate blog posts from these characters.

**Unexpected visitor in our lair**

**By Left Hand Lance (written on Sept. 27, 2011)**

These past few days have been crazy for us. First we see a big zombie outbreak and then we got lucky to find a basement in the back of KokoNutz Sports Town. Gretchen, Johnny, Wallace and I thought we were in a safe area…until this guy showed up.

We all stood around doing our thing and then all of a sudden, this guy came in asking me some questions about our website and how he had no idea about our cause. What's crazy is that I could have sworn that the door to the store was locked before this guy came in. He even tried to get us to go with him, talking about a safe house, only to see that we have our own lair and we can handle ourselves.

For some odd reason, this guy came prepared to do business with us, and Wallace helped him out, made a weapon, doing what he does best.

After the guy left, I asked everyone else who left the door unlocked. Everybody said, "Not me." Do you think maybe I could have been irresponsible here? A zombie could have come in and tried eating us. No matter. We know how to take zombies.

* * *

**Zombrex: Scam or not?**

**By Johnny Pipes (written on Sept. 26, 2011)**

Do you feel that this drug is a scam by Phenotrans? Or do you think that really does help people not turn into zombies? Seeing as how Phenotrans charges a lot of money for this, it's obvious that they care only about making a profit, not to try coming up with a cure for the infected. The worst part about this is that it only works for 24 hours. It does not help that the drug costs too much and that they don't make bottles of the chemicals to put into the syringe before injection.

You do whatever it takes to survive, but even I think this is a bullshit drug.

* * *

**How to make a weapon out of random items**

**By Wallace Hertzog (Written on Sept. 26, 2011)**

In a zombie outbreak, it's always best to know different forms of survival, one of which being in a jam to use to help defend yourself. However, weapons such as guns or knives may not often be available when necessary. So what can someone do? They improvise. Whether it's using what is around you, or even better: Making a weapon out of random items.

There are various items to make weapons out of. Here are a few weapons and how to make them.

DEFILER

Step 1: Get a sledgehammer and a fire axe.

Step 2: Break off the end of the fire axe.

Step 3: Use duct tape to stick tip of fire axe on the end of sledgehammer.

WEED TENDONIZER

Step 1: Take a weed whacker and a few knives.

Step 2: Stick knives to the ends of the weed whacker.

Step 3: Turn on weed tendonizer and go to town on those zombies!

If you have any suggestions, shoot me a comment below. Thanks.

* * *

**I met those nerds again!**

**By Gretchen Peregrine (Written on Sept. 28, 2011)**

It was not easy coming across a group of nerds in the South Plaza earlier, when they tried giving me their business cards, as well tried flirting with me in their own weird way. However, I came across those same guys after having been brought to this new lair, where a lot of people were rescued. I am not surprised to see to a lot of stragglers were still living after having seen the amount of zombies out there. But the fact that I saw the same four nerds from earlier was really baffling, not to mention that a half-naked woman was all over one of them. Hell, they have a fifth member of their crew now, and I saw him try to hit on me, too.

Why must I be subjected to these types of guys? Difference between their new member and the other guys is that he seemed normal in contrast to them. I mean, I have never seen a guy wear a bonnet and dress like a Japanese schoolgirl either. Even weirder is how one of them is with some girl in her underwear. Now I am not sure why she is not wearing any clothes, but I could only guess that the guy needed some new underwear after being near a woman like that. I mean, the guy was not bad looking, and this girl is drop-dead gorgeous, but from what I saw earlier, he had no way of knowing how to talk to women. Of course, I even saw some other half-naked women with those guys, one of whom was a showgirl. I could not imagine how those guys were when they first saw them. They tried flirting with me before with their inappropriate comments, I could only picture them drooling over those women. Yet, I see that showgirl somehow hanging out with them. It just seems a bit off. I don't mean judge those types of guys because even the other guys I hang with can be a bit nerdy, but these guys are much dorkier than Lance, Wallace, Johnny.

Of course, they saw me and they immediately recognized me. They asked me if I wanted to play their game with them. I am like "HELL NO!" Not after what they did before. It's a wonder how these guys have some women around them now, hot women to be exact.

I feel like such an awful person right now, but those guys were just odd when I saw them.

* * *

**Could This Be The End?**

**By Johnny Pipes (Written on Sept. 28, 2011)**

These past few days in Fortune City have been crazy. First we evade a zombie outbreak by finding a room in a sporting goods shop in a mall. The next thing that happens is that Wallace messes up our bunker and accidentally setting it on fire, leaving us to go and fight off some zombies. Somehow, we were saved by that one guy who invaded our bunker, and we found another place to go to. Lucky for us, I got my laptop out of there and I was able to find a place to get a Wi-Fi setup and to plug it on to do this report.

Is it inevitable that we will all die? The US military failed at trying to save people from the outbreak, and there is no way of getting out of this alive considering there may be another way to end this entire outbreak once and for all: bombing this entire place. If that happens, then this may be our final article. If that's the case, then this may be the end.

From what I saw in here, there are a lot of survivors who managed to live through all this mess. I see a couple of soldiers who surprisingly got out of the outbreak in one piece. I see an EMT who seems like he had helped a lot of people here. I even noticed a tiger in the surveillance room. It's amazing how a lot of people managed to live through all of this. I even saw Angel Lust here and Wallace is a big fan of theirs. He does not know this yet. I want to surprise him with this.

That guy Chuck Greene has been quite a help to us, and to all of the other survivors here. He'll find a way to help get all of us out of this mess. If we live through this, then I will follow up on this entry. Here is hoping we get out of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering about Gretchen's post, look up the Tape It or Die posts on the Dead Rising wiki.


	26. An Unexpected Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willa comes across someone she did not expect to see.

Willa Harris had spent a day trying to have her leg recover from an injury that she suffered while she was in the middle of the outbreak with her friend, Terri Glass.

Sven Blaaborg, the resident emergency medical technician, had helped Willa try to treat her leg. The main thing he had told Willa to do is just rest her leg after putting it on ice for a bit. He even told her that after a while, the best thing for her to do is walk on the leg to see how it feels. Even Terri, having been a good friend to Willa, agreed that it would be best to try walking around a bit to help the pressure on her leg.

Willa walked around the safe house to help ease the pain on her leg, and then suddenly, she across a very familiar face, if familial. She noticed an attractive woman with a headdress and a blue robe. Once she took a closer look, the word that came out of her mouth was, "Kristin?"

Kristin turned her attention towards the person who uttered her name and noticed someone in construction gear. The only thing she could say in that situation was "Willa?"

"What are you doing here, what brought you here?" Willa said, though saying that was redundant considering how there would only be one reason for her to be there, along with numerous other people.

"The main thing that I could remember is waking up in the security room at the Americana Casino and puking my guts out," Kristin said. "Before that, all I could remember is drinking a bit too much with some guys at a bachelor party."

Willa looked at her and put her hand to her mouth, because her body told her to laugh, but she tried to fight the laughter as best as she could.

"This doesn't surprise me, you were always a big party animal," Willa said. "Sounds like you got shitfaced. I have seen you like that before."

"Don't start," Kristin said. "I think I should lay off the drinks for a bit. There was a good thing to come out of it."

"What is that," Willa asked.

"One of the guys gave me his number," Kristin said, as she opened her robe a bit on her chest area and got the piece of paper that was in her bikini top. She then put in back in her bikini top. "Other than that, I really don't know how I got into the security room at the Americana. I didn't even know that there was a zombie outbreak until that one guy came to take me here. I just hope that one guy who I partied with got out okay."

Willa didn't say anything in that moment, as she was not surprised at Kristin's behavior. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Terri caught up to Willa.

"Hey, Willa, is everything okay?" Terri asked, and she looked at Kristin. "Who is this, by the way?"

Willa looked over at Terri. "I'm fine, I was just trying to walk on my leg to see how it feels, and this here is Kristin, my cousin."

Kristin put her hand out to get a handshake from Terri, which caused her to shake Kristin's hand in the process.

"Hi there, I'm Terri, I work with your cousin, we're friends," Terri said.

"Nice meeting you, by the way," Kristin said, who then looked at Willa. "I didn't realize that you were here this whole time, by the way. You said something about your leg, what happened out there?"

After having realized that they got caught up in talking about what Kristin went through, Terri looked over at Willa, who then faced Terri in the process, and the two turned their attention towards Kristin.

"Well, I tried to…," Willa said.

"We both got surrounded by zombies in the South Plaza, and we tried to fight them off," Terri interrupted Willa.

"Yeah, and I hurt my leg when I climbed the scaffold to avoid the zombies," Willa said. "But Terri here did not give up trying to fight the zombies off. Some of them were even our former coworkers."

Kristin's eyes widened right after she heard what her cousin and her friend had gone through.

"And I thought the bender I went through was crazy," Kristin said. "I just hope those guys I partied with got out safely."

"Well, why don't you try calling your lover-boy then?" Willa sarcastically replied. "I bet that he really wants to talk to you to get to know you."

"Oh, come on, Willa, I don't have my phone with me, and why do you have to say it like that?" Kristin wondered why Willa tried to get sarcastic with her. On the other perspective, Willa felt that her own cousin sort of trivialized the situation that a lot of the living people in the bunker had gone through. It did not help matters that she got hurt out there in the process, thankfully not by any zombies.

Willa sighed. "Kristin, you got lucky out there." She paused for a bit, "Well, actually, we are all lucky. But what I meant was that you got lucky in passing out in a security for who knows how long, while my friend and I struggled against zombies until that guy Chuck saved our asses. All you're concerned about is some strange guy who you met who more than likely just liked what he saw because you were out there flaunting your body on stage."

Kristin's eyes widened again, and her jaw dropped a bit after having heard her cousin say that, and then looked over at Terri.

"I don't know why you just said that, especially since your friend does not have a problem showing off her body with what she is wearing," Kristin retorted.

The olive complexion on Terri's face rose to a much redder complexion right when Kristin was done with the comment she made.

"Don't take it the wrong way, Terri, I meant nothing by it," Kristin said. "In fact, if you got it, flaunt it."

Terri then put her hand to her mouth while she smirked at the comment.

Kristin understood where her cousin was coming from, but in fairness to her, she was unaware of the zombie outbreak until a man named Chuck Greene came to talk to her in the security room of the Americana. She was out for a long time after having too much to drink, which led to her vomiting after she woke up, not to mention she was still in her bikini that she wore in her shift when she danced on stage and was still in it when she partied with those guys.

"Terri, can you please excuse us for a bit?" Kristin said. "I want to talk to my cousin alone."

Terri nodded her head and excused herself for a bit. Kristin and Willa were left alone at that moment.

"Willa, do you have a problem or something? The tone just threw me off," Kristin said.

"No, it's just that you seemed to downplay what my friend and I went through," Willa said. "Both of us could have been killed, but you seemed more concerned about the guy you partied with who gave you his number."

"Whoa, whoa!" Kristin backed away a bit. "Hold on a second there, I was not downplaying anything. If anything, if it wasn't for Chuck, I could have gotten out of the security room and be shocked at the sight of the zombies out there. I wouldn't have made it far either because I started going through a freaking hangover when I woke up and started puking! Yes, maybe I am a bit concerned about that guy because he seemed cool and he gave me his number. Maybe I made a connection in the process, who knows? But come on, be glad that you and I are alive. We are family, you know that!"

Willa did not know what to say after Kristin just let out a response that she did not expect to come out of her cousin's mouth. She turned around and put her head down a bit.

Kristin, on the other hand, looked over at Willa, as she surmised that she may have hurt her cousin after what she had just said.

"Willa, are you okay? I hope that I didn't upset you," Kristin said.

"It's okay, Kristin," Willa said.

"I have always wondered this, even when we were younger," Kristin said. "Were you jealous of me growing up?"

'Why would you even ask that?" Willa responded.

"Look, you know I was a cheerleader and I always had a lot of guys trying to talk to me, but none of that mattered after a while," Kristin said. "I was not sure if you were jealous or not, but you know I never looked down on you for anything. You're the closest thing I have to a sister. You have two brothers, I have only one brother. We were so close, I don't know why you started acting this way."

Willa responded, "I still think we are as close as we were when we were young, but I have always noticed that you were always out partying and noticed a bunch of guys always trying to talk to you. You are prettier than I am, and I can see that guys mostly want to… you know."

"I am sure that I know the types who just want to have sex with me and all, and I know what I am doing," Kristin said. "Look, just be glad we are all safe, you, me, your friend Terri, we will get out of this."

"Maybe I will buy all three of us drinks when we get out," Willa said.

Kristin chuckled. "I think I need to lay off the drinks for a bit, but we'll do something. Your friend seems nice, by the way."

"She is, she always has my back," Willa said.

"Is everything okay here?" Terri asked when she walked up to the two cousins after they talked.

"Everything is fine, Terri," Kristin said. "It was just a family matter."

"Okay, cool," Terri said, who then looked at Willa. "How is your leg now, Willa?"

"It's a lot better than before," Willa said.

Willa had no idea how lucky she was to have a great friend in Terri, whom she sometimes has seen in a different light than before, even though Terri probably didn't feel the same way. Also, she didn't realize that not only was her cousin in the safe house, but even though the two hadn't talked in a while prior to this, they still maintained a bond that they shared when they were kids, even though on the surface they seemed to be from different worlds.


	27. Breach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This happens during the breach mission.

Andy and Tammy continued to have their long talk with each other, having seen that despite having been in each other's company for nearly a whole day, they realized that they like each other. Suddenly, the alarm in the safe house goes off, and they both turned their attentions to the door.

"What the hell is going on?" Tammy asked as she looked right at the door.

"I don't know, but I will have to see," Andy said as he got up and approached the door.

The alarm became, well, alarming to everyone in the safe house. No one saw it coming, but what the cause of the breach was something no one had ever thought would ever come into the safe house. Both Andy and Tammy were surprised by the alarm. Once Andy got outside of the room that he and Tammy stayed in, he turned his head right and left, and then turned his body to his left to walk around to see what was up, until he sensed something was behind him. He turned around and yelled, "Oh shit!" as his eyes widened. It had not been a full day since having had a long conversation about his depression and trauma. It had only been some hours since he had gone out into the outbreak to get some stuff for a girl he barely knows. He had had cheated death while out in the outbreak in more ways than one, but death just approached him out of nowhere.

He lied on the ground as he faced the zombie face to face but held the zombie right by his neck and shoulder because he did not want to get bitten. Suddenly, blood sprayed right to his face as the zombie was beheaded right before his very eyes, which shifted to his right to see that Tammy stood right over him with a fire axe in her hand.

Andy sat up and smiled a bit at the sight of Tammy having just killed a zombie. In other words, she saved him. Andy got up and saw something behind Tammy. It was a female zombie that was closing in on her to bite her on the neck. She saw her coming close to her right near her shoulder. She acted fast and moved quickly away, but the fire axe fell right from her hand. Both faced death right in front of them, until the zombie fell forward right in front of them after she was kicked in the back. The person who knocked the zombie down was none other than Summer Chavez, accompanied by her two cohorts, Nina Suhr and Cora Russell, who was also the leader of their pack. Summer then took the opportunity to kick the head off the zombie just to ensure that it was dead.

"Wow," Tammy said, who looked at the three women was some awe.

Summer looked at the pair a certain way, like she was a little jealous, while Cora and Nina stood right beside her.

"Andy, we have to stop bailing you out like this," Cora said. "I think you and your little girlfriend should get back inside your room. We'll handle these zombies. Don't worry, this is on us."

Andy nodded his head. "Thank you so much for saving us, I owe you ladies big time."

"Thank us later," Summer said, as she was ready to fight more zombies right then and there. "Just get back into your room now!"

While the two headed right back into the room, Cora looked to her two cohorts and said, "Okay, ladies, let's do this!"

All three women started fighting the zombies with all their might.

Andy and Tammy got back inside their room, but there was one thing on Tammy's mind in that moment.

"Andy, who were those women," Tammy asked.

"Those women saved my life earlier," Andy said.

"When did this happen?" Tammy asked. "I noticed the way that one girl was looking at me. Something didn't seem right about her."

"They saved me from these looters who robbed me and jumped me," Andy said. "I feel like I owe them a lot now. If only I can repay them somehow."

Tammy turned her attention away from Andy for just a bit to glance at the door.

"I don't know, Andy," Tammy said. "That one girl with the white pants, she gave me some weird look. I don't know what that was about."

"Don't worry about it," Andy said. "They know how to handle themselves, and we will repay them somehow, sometime soon, maybe."

Tammy nodded her head. Meanwhile outside, all three of the scantily-clad bodyguards continued to fight the zombies with all their skill. They had fought the zombies before, so this was a walk in the park for them. They handled themselves against zombies when they protected Chuck as he escorted them to the safe house, and this situation would be no different from before.

* * *

When the alarm started to blare, Terri, Willa, and Kristin, who was in the same room with the two, all looked up.

"What the hell is that?" Willa said.

Terri got closer to the door. She opened the door a crack and saw a zombie right outside. Once she saw the zombie, she quickly shut the door. She quickly turned her attention to the other two ladies and said, "There are zombies out there."

"What?!" Kristin said. "But how?!"

Willa sat there with nothing to say, though the look of shock and fear on her face said a lot more than anything that would come out of her mouth.

"I think the safe house has been breached," Terri said. She saw a sledgehammer in the room. "You two stay here, I'll go out there and fight the zombies."

"Don't, please," Willa said. "I don't want you to do this."

Terri picked up the sledgehammer. "Don't worry about me, I'll be back."

Terri opened the door and as soon as she exited the door, she clocked the first zombie right outside. She had noticed a guy in a Terror Is Reality motocross outfit down the hallway trying to fight some zombies. She headed right to her left through the doorway where there were a couple of giant dice near the staircase. She ran right to one zombie and whacked it with the sledgehammer and did the same thing to another nearby zombie. If her fighting zombies in the South Plaza before getting escorted to safety was not proof of how tough she was or can be, then this moment showed that she was not only not afraid to fight zombies but would jump at the opportunity to do so to help anybody in need, as well as to help defend herself in the process.

Terri kept fighting them, even though there was a large horde near her. As more zombies kept approaching her, she continued to fight them off as much as she could. She started to get tired from swinging the sledgehammer, so much that she could not take the pressure anymore. The pressure not only stemmed from having to swing the hammer so much, but also that so many zombies came right to her…until a few zombies dropped. Chuck Greene, who was nearby, picked up a generator to try to seal the door had used it as a weapon to help her. Being that was not enough to take all of them down, Chuck got out a jar with a queen bee in it and threw it right to the staircase, which not only killed the zombies that were near Terri, but also some zombies that a woman in a pink shirt who was upstairs was fighting before.

Both women were thankful at what just happened. Right after that, Terri ran right back into the hallway and helped the motocross guy with killing zombies a bit.

"Thanks so much," said the motocross guy.

"You're welcome," Terri said. "I have to go check on my friends."

Terri went back into the storage room where Willa and Kristin were.

"Terri, thank god you're okay," Willa said.

"I had to check on you two," Terri said. "Things should be okay soon, I hope."

Terri stayed with Willa and Kristin until the alarm sounded off. It just went to show that even though Terri was brave enough to go out and fight zombies, she still had a level of fear inside her system, as well as a level concern for her best friend and her new friend that she had made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it seemed like I should have had more characters put in. Maybe I might do another one of this mission.


	28. Andy's Hot Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer wants Andy to repay her for saving him her way.

After the breach had ended and the safe house had been cleared of the zombies, Andy stepped out of the storage room where he and his love interest Tammy were in while all of the mayhem was going on. They were told to go back into the room by three attractive women who happen to be bodyguards. Of course, this was not the first time Andy had crossed paths with them as they saved his life from looters trying to mug and jump him in the Palisades Mall.

It had been almost a full day since Andy had gotten himself to the safe house, not to mention gotten himself acquainted with Tammy, with whom he hit it off. Nobody believed that attraction and feelings could develop in that short amount of time, but with so little to do inside the safe house, the most he could do is just continue spending time with this girl who he had just met and gotten to know.

Being that the three bodyguards had saved his life twice, Andy had wondered what he could do to try returning those two favors. He had initially declined on their protection after being jumped in the mall, despite them having offered to give him a discount after the three women had witnessed the mugging. However, one of the three wanted something a bit more than just money for her pocket, as Andy tickled her fancy a bit and wanted a piece of that action, and she did not mean just to protect him from psychos and zombies. Oh no, it was something beyond that.

With the breach having been over, at least for now, Andy stepped outside to go grab himself some food for himself and also for Tammy in the cafeteria. Despite being able to walk after Andy had gotten her some clothes, Tammy decided to just stay in the room where it was safe. On the way over there, a female voice had uttered Andy's name, which caused him to turn around who had called out his name. There was one person who was facing him in that moment and it was none other than the lovely Summer Chavez. While Summer may also be a woman's name, it had been speculated that it was not her real name, as she had noted that she was called that because "she likes it hot," or maybe she just made a comment and happened to have had that as her first name. Whatever the case it may be on what she likes hot, or if that was her true first name for that matter, nobody knew for sure, though Andy may have been the one to find out.

"Oh, hi," Andy said. "Summer, right? You and your friends saved me at the mall, as well as from zombies just a little while ago."

"That's right," Summer said, who then got close to Andy. "I also want to talk to you about something."

"What do you want to talk about?" Andy asked.

"Well…," Summer slanted her head a bit while she talked to Andy with a rather flirty tone in her voice. "You see, being that we had saved you and your little girlfriend from zombies, I was wondering if you could return the favor."

The way she enunciated the word "girlfriend" was in a rather sarcastic tone, like she could have been jealous of Tammy. Summer had finally seen what Tammy had looked like, a rather gorgeous woman with stunning beauty, enough that she saw her as competition. In other words, Summer took one look at Tammy and was impressed. While Andy saw that Summer was indeed a knockout, he was not sure how to act in that situation. None of the depression or suicidal tendencies that he had endured prior to it mattered anymore as he faced another problem on his hands, if one can call it that.

"What do you want?" Andy said. "How can I repay you three for all that you've done for me? Also, shouldn't I talk to Cora, your boss-lady?"

Andy wondered why this lady talked to him like that, while Summer have moved in a little closer to him with a look on her face that really said that she wanted something from him, enough that a smirk developed into a smile while she raised her eyebrows a couple of times before she had rubbed her right hand against Andy's shoulder.

"I told Cora that I needed to go to the bathroom, but now that I saw you, I need to talk to you," Summer replied. "Why don't you join in me the bathroom?" She then winked at Andy, who then got confused about this.

The two had walked into the restroom after talking right in front of the cafeteria for some odd reason. Right when they walked into the restroom, Andy asked Summer why they needed to be in the bathroom, when she asked him to join her in the bathroom stall, which then led to even more confusion on Andy's end.

"What's going on?" Andy asked, which caused Summer to put her hand to his mouth.

"You see, I don't know if we are going out of this alive," Summer said. "But I have to tell you something. I like a man who can take charge. Also, I was thinking that we can just erase the favors you owe us right now and call us even."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Andy said.

"The fact that you had gone out into the outbreak to get some things and fight zombies shows that you can take charge," Summer said. "And I like that in a man. You remind me of that guy Chuck." She then moved her face closer to Andy, but as soon as her lips could touch his lips, Andy had backed his head away just a smidge.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Andy replied with so much shock in his voice.

"Oh, come on, Andy, don't act like you wouldn't go for this," Summer said, as she grabbed Andy's right hand to put it on her left breast, while her right hand reached for his crotch, as she tried to unzip and unbutton his pants. She then undid her pants to reveal that she was wearing black bikini bottoms.

"Do you like what you see?" Summer said. Despite Andy trying to fight any sort of temptation, in no way was he in denial about liking he was seeing.

She then moved her body up against him and tried to kiss him again, which was successful, but Andy quickly backed away in a split second. Summer then noticed a bulge from down there, even though Andy was embarrassed about that. Summer then pulled down Andy's bloodstained jeans and then got on her knees ready to do…some other thing.

"I can't do this," Andy said. "This isn't right."

"Why not," Summer asked.

"I don't really know you," Andy answered.

"And you know that redhead who I saw you with? How well do you know her?" Summer said. "Didn't you just meet her?"

"Why are you doing this?" Andy said.

Summer then replied. "Oh, come on, Andy. I knew I liked you when I saw you after me and the girls had saved you. Also, what are the chances that we are getting out of here alive? Didn't you hear some people say that we may get bombed? I just wanted some action while the going was hot. Plus, you just met that other girl, too."

Andy looked at her and did not know what to say at that moment. Summer had a good point about whether anyone was going to get saved at all, especially when the military failed to save everyone, and also when the zombies came right into the safe house. However, despite Andy's negative attitude from before, especially with having dealt with depression and trauma, a lot of the time he had spent in the safe house with a woman whom he had made a connection made him see the light, as well as start to think more positively.

"Listen, you are very beautiful, but I really think that this is a bit much for a situation like this," Andy said.

"Oh, come on, Andy, do you really think that we're getting out of here alive?" Summer said. "The chances are really slim."

"I know we will get out of here," Andy said. "I have faith in Chuck Greene, he helped me out. He helped a lot of people out here."

In spite of the lustful temptation that Summer felt before, she started to see that Andy had a point in what he had said. Suddenly, she didn't want to go through with doing anything sexual with Andy at that moment.

"Look, I'm sorry if I was a little forward from before," Summer said, as she was putting her pants back on. "I won't tell your little girlfriend, and I won't tell Cora and Nina about this. This will be our little secret. But if things don't work out between you and that redhead." Summer had reached for her pocket to hand Andy a business card. "Give me a call."

Andy nodded his head and put the business card in his pocket, though he doubted that he would call them. Summer got out of the restroom stall first and then exited the restroom to go back with her two friends/cohorts, while Andy stayed in the restroom for a bit. He went right to the sink to rinse off the sweat from the pressure he had felt from Summer wanting to have sex with him. However, the thoughts in his head started coming to him.

_Oh, man, I don't know what was going on. Why did I turn down sex with a very hot woman? Was it because I am loyal to Tammy, even though we have only known each other for about a day? Was it because it just didn't feel right? I felt a little uncomfortable, but deep down, I think I wanted it, but my conscience told me that I shouldn't. Why? I am not with anyone right now, so it would not have been cheating, but I think I found someone who I like. That was just a weird moment._

Andy got out of the restroom and went to go get some food from the cafeteria. However, he took a longer route to get back to the storage room as he needed to clear his head from he had just gone through, and why he turned down sex with Summer, and he told himself not to tell Tammy about any of this. But he did feel that everyone was going to get out of there safely. He just had that idea and stuck by it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another one that might border on the M-rating, except nothing too explicit happens.


	29. An Unlikely Alliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Denyce helps out Frank with saving survivors while he does his own thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set in the "Off The Record" canon, as well as based on the "Alpha vs. Omega" trophy/achievement.

It was a night unlike any other for Denyce Calloway, a young woman who worked as a pharmacist at Roy's Mart, located in the Royal Flush Plaza adjacent to the Slot Ranch Casino.

It fell on the same night as the Terror Is Reality event that took place at the Fortune City Arena, while Denyce had to work the graveyard shift. Not that she had any interest in that show anyway, because it was too barbaric and morally ambiguous for people to watch, let alone take part in. However, even with her working graveyard, on any other night, people would go in there in case they needed some meds because the Fortune City nightlife was very active. Most businesses were open 24 hours.

But it was not the case that night. It was slow, so slow that it became quiet, until screams and yells were heard from close by, as well as bodies getting mutilated from the undead. She stood behind the counter all by her lonesome hearing the brutal deaths occur. She wondered if there were any other living people out there besides herself.

At some point, the doors to the store had opened and what appeared to be living people walking in, Denyce looked closer only to find that it was a trio of men wearing gray hooded sweatshirts and bandanas covering their faces to conceal their identity. They also wielded crowbars, tomahawks, and flashlights for some reason. If the lack of ease in her system from the zombie outbreak was bad, the fact that the store was being robbed in her presence was worse, because who knew what they would or could have done to her.

The three looters ravaged through the store looking for some supplies. Denyce stood there in fear over what was going on in front of her and then sat down on the floor. She couldn't do anything. She was outnumbered and unarmed. Little did she know that another person would enter the store at that moment.

"Fantastic," the man said as he saw the looters rummaging through the store.

One of the looters approached the counter with Denyce sitting on the floor cowering in fear. He hit the counter with the crowbar to get her attention.

"Hey! I know you're holding out on us! Where's the money?! Where's the safe?!" the looter said, and then reached his hand out to get Denyce to her feet. "Come on, don't lie to me!"

"We don't have a safe!" The amount of fear in Denyce's body was through the roof at that point.

"Don't lie to…" the looter said as he was about to hit her with the crowbar.

"Hey," until he was interrupted by the man who walked in, who was carrying a camera with him and wore a black suit with sunglasses.

"Don't you have something better to do?" the photographer said.

The main looter looked at the photographer with an ice cold stare. "Why don't you mind your own business, old man?"

"Just looking for some meds, no need to get ugly," the photographer said.

The main looter let go of Denyce's hand and pushed her away and started to hit the crowbar against the palm of his left hand.

"Well, you're definitely going to need some painkillers when I'm done with you."

The photographer retorted, "Well, talking to you is giving me a headache."

The main looter looked at him with a sneer in his eye. "Oh yeah? What say you give me some money, and I'll go get some for you?"

"Yeah, give us some money, grandpa!" said another looter. "We'll help you out."

"How about it, grandpa?" said the third looter. "You got any money?"

Denyce put her hands to the counter to peek at what those looters would do to the man who stood up to them. Much to her surprise, the man was able to take all three of them down. She took a deep breath.

Wait, is that who I think it is? She thought.

The photographer saw her and then jumped the counter to approach her.

"Hey, are you alright?" the man said.

"I thought they were going to kill me!" she said.

"It's okay, you're safe now, are you hurt?" he said.

"I think I'm okay," Denyce said as she shook. "Thank you so much. You got here before they…before they…"

"Listen, there's a safe house where you'll be safe," the photographer said. "Follow me and I'll take you there."

"Wait," she said. "I think I know who you are."

"Do you, now?" the photographer replied.

"You're Frank West," she said. "I saw that you were taking part in the TIR event and that you also lived through the Willamette outbreak. I also watched 'Uncovered' sometimes when it was on. It was a shame that your show got cancelled."

"You're good, I'll give you that," Frank said.

"Listen, because you saved me from those robbers, I was wondering if I could help you on this," Denyce said. "I read about how you saved a lot of living people in Willamette and you lived to tell about the tale of how you uncovered the truth. Let me help you out."

Frank stood there as he let out a hiss of unease. "Listen, no offense, but I usually work alone on this. You'll only get in my way if any danger comes our way."

"I promise that I won't, and besides, I could have been killed just now until you came in," Denyce said. "Plus, if there are any other living people out there, I can provide some medication for them if they need it. I know I don't seem like much help to you, but I am just offering my service to you as gratitude for saving me. I will have your back on this."

Skepticism rolled through Frank's mind from that suggestion. Even back in Willamette, he mainly worked alone on getting the scoop. Sure, he had help from survivors he encountered, especially some well-armed and well-skilled ones who even kept him from getting killed. Others weren't as skilled at survival, but they managed to get out of the outbreak and the mall alive thanks to a man who flew them away.

"I know you seem wary about this, but I promise you that I will not get in your way," Denyce said. "I will cover you when I need to."

Frank took a deep breath. "Okay, young lady, you can help me. What is your name?"

"My name is Denyce," she said.

"Okay, Denyce, let's get going, but first things first," Frank said.

He got out the pharmacy key that one of the looters had dropped and opened the door and found a box of Zombrex on the counter. Denyce looked at him confusedly.

"Excuse me, Mr. West," Denyce said. "Are you infected?"

Frank turned around to face her. "I've had this condition since the Willamette Incident. Don't worry about me if I turn."

Denyce nodded her head. "Okay."

She noticed the crowbar on the ground next to the unconscious body of the looter who harassed her. She picked it up and the duo was on their way to find some more survivors and what else led to the outbreak.

Even though she had suggested that she'd help Frank on the case and also to find survivors, she didn't blame him for being skeptical in the matter. She was familiar with him, enough that she had read about Willamette and watched his talk show. He was all over the media in the wake of that outbreak. But the fact that he had endured a major suicide mission five years before and now that she was joining him on this, she was scared deep down.

She was only 21 years old. She had spent the better part of her teenage years studying pharmaceutical technology as she had graduated high school earlier than most people in her age group. She was too young to endure this, but this was a chance that she was willing to take.

Throughout the course of the day, she proved to be a valuable asset to Frank, much to his amazement. She used the crowbar that she picked up and went to town on any zombies that went her way. Frank was rather impressed at how adept she was in handling the undead. That was not to say that she did not have some close calls herself, however. There were moments when she would get caught up among a horde of zombies. Some even grabbed her and almost bit her, but she was able to push them off of her. Lucky for her, she did not get bit by any.

It was not just zombies that she and Frank had endured, however. There were moments that the two had encountered more of the looters in various parts of the plaza, whether it was in the Royal Flush Plaza, the Palisades Mall, the Uranus Zone, or even the North Plaza. What was odd was that some looters were cordial when they ran certain stores that sold some combo weapons and other odd things in various parts of the plaza.

One moment had the same three looters from earlier who tried to rob Roy's Mart encounter the duo when they were on the Silver Strip.

"Hey, there's that asshole that kicked our asses," said the main looter, and then looked closer at a young short-haired girl in a lab coat. "And is that same bitch from that store? Oh shit, this is going to be fun!"

Denyce turned around and saw the trio running in their direction.

"Oh no. Um, Frank? We have company," she said.

Frank then turned around and saw the looters headed their way.

"Oh, not these assholes again," Frank said.

"It's worse than that," Denyce said. "It's the same guys from the store when you saved me."

"How do you know that?" Frank said.

"He identified us, I heard him!" Denyce said.

Frank then got out his spiked bat and then approached the trio. Denyce followed him with a lead pipe in her hand this time. Even though Frank had saved her from them, it was clear that they wanted revenge on both of them for ruining their plan to rob the store. However, Denyce knew that the main guy would go after her, so this was her chance at gaining retribution for nearly getting assaulted by the looters. The main looter of that trio had a crowbar yet again and from the look in his eyes, he developed an evil smile. The majority of his face was covered, but there was no doubt that the look in his eyes implied that he was smiling.

"I got you now," the looter said as he brandished his crowbar ready to swing it right at her, only to be met with a lead pipe right to the gut.

"Ohhhhh!" the looter yelled right when Denyce swung the pipe. She didn't stop there, though, as she raised the pipe over her head and swung the pipe downward towards the looter's head. She hit him so hard that he would have to be lucky to still be breathing from that, but it was not the case as he lied on the ground with no indication that he was alive.

Right when Frank got close to the other two looters, one of them got out his can of green spray paint, but Denyce whacked him right on his right forearm, to which he screamed in pain from. It looked dislocated, but none of that mattered as she picked up the can and sprayed it right in the looters' faces. Blinded by the paint, Frank used that as an opportunity to clock them both in their faces with the spiked bat. Both men went down, but Denyce was not done as she took her pipe and hit both of them multiple times in a fit of rage.

"This is for trying to rob me!" Denyce said. Frank then approached her and told her that they had enough and were likely dead from the attacks.

Denyce stood there and breathed a few times, "I just needed to let go of my anger."

It wasn't going to be the last time that they would deal with any looters, but it was the last time that they dealt with those ones in particular. However, the looters were not the only living people that they would have to worry about, as there were some people who had snapped because of the outbreak itself, like a man on a motorcycle who seemingly lost his daughter, or an insane chef cooking human organs, an obese man with a chainsaw, the list goes on. She even had to watch out from shots being fired from snipers on roofs of some places, even though she took care of a couple, while Frank took care of the other two. Who even knew that she would be able to take on some crazy people even on her own? Even she didn't know that she had it in her.

For the next few days, Denyce had been quite a help to Frank, enough that he considered her a partner. There were even moments when he had something to take care of and she had offered to escort some of the survivors back to the safe house. She even went inside a few times so that they could follow her, but each time she found herself getting out. She didn't think that she was done helping Frank out. She had to separate from him to look for more survivors even when Frank was helping out a fellow journalist named Rebecca Chang in uncovering the truth.

Denyce, on the other hand, had met some more people that were among the living, but rather than take them back to the safe house, she had formed her own little army and battled against other zombies. They may have been separated, but within the amount of time she had spent with Frank as his sidekick, she learned a few tricks from him, like crafting weapons, as well as making mixed drinks, some of which that could keep them from getting bitten.

It finally got to the point where the military was going to clean up the zombie mess as well as rescue the survivors in the bunker. Frank and Rebecca were getting visuals on the rescue attempt for their story, only to see that it went to hell because some of the zombies became more powerful. Some of them were hard for Denyce to take down. The same could be said for her allies, whom had trouble in defending themselves against those zombies. However, the main sergeant involved took off in a humvee to get out of there. Denyce noticed Rebecca running in the direction, which was towards the Yucatan Casino.

_What is she doing? Where is she going?_ Denyce thought.

It wasn't long until Frank had come down the ladder that was on the roof in between the Slot Ranch Casino and the Royal Flush Plaza.

"Hey, Frank!"

He turned around and noticed Denyce and her personal army approaching him. A couple of members of her army consisted of a young woman and her mother, both of whom who were well-armed, especially the daughter wielding a shotgun. Another was an aging singer who Frank dealt with earlier, but she proved to be a good ally after realizing her "fans" were zombies. Some of these survivors she had stay with her after realizing that she needed help after taking some others back to the bunker. There was just no way she could do this all on her own.

Frank smiled a tad, "Whoa, Denyce, you have become quite a leader."

"Now's not the time, I saw Ms. Chang running towards the Yucatan," she said. "I think she was heading towards the underground tunnel."

"I thought the same thing," Frank said. "Let's go get her."

Frank and Denyce led their team of survivors to go find Rebecca. Nobody knew what the sergeant was going to do with her, but it couldn't be good. There was no time to waste. Everyone had to go through the zombies to get to her. Once they were in front of the Yucatan, they noticed some tire marks right in front of the Luaii Wauii, the island-themed outdoor restaurant.

"This way," Frank said. He and the rest followed the tire tracks and noticed a broken gate that went into the tunnel with a humvee against it. "This has to be it, let's go."

Once the team got inside, they noticed another humvee next to an open rolling door and heard some gunfire coming from the area. To them, it only meant one thing.

Before they went forth inside, Frank stopped Denyce.

"Listen, I need to go in there alone," Frank said. "Go back to the safe house. I think I got this."

"We are a team," Denyce said. "This guy seems like he really lost it. I was close by when they got caught up."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Frank said.

"I am going to stay close by," Denyce said. "Remember, I have your back, and I've had your back this entire time."

Frank sighed, "Okay, but only come in if I seem like I am in trouble."

"You got it," Denyce said.

Frank went in to go confront the sergeant. Denyce heard the guy yelling as he was shooting at zombies that were nearby. She heard a woman utter Frank's name, which then caused the soldier put her inside a vehicle. She noticed that the soldier opened fire on Frank, but he was quick to get out of his way. The same thing happened when he threw grenades in his direction. Though she had agreed to stay out of sight, she said that she would go in if Frank was in trouble, and from what she saw, it seemed like he was in trouble, especially when the soldier picked up Frank and threw him.

_How did he do that?_ She thought. In her sights, she saw the soldier approaching Frank's fallen, but still breathing body and holding his large machine gun over him ready to fire. Denyce quickly ran in with a six-shooter that she had picked up earlier.

"Hold it right there!" she yelled with her gun pointed right at the soldier.

"Great, another zombie," the sergeant said.

"Another zombie"? What is he talking about? She thought. It was only then that it had occurred to her that he had lost it completely that he was not sure what was real anymore.

Though she was armed with only a revolver and he was armed with a heavier weapon, she felt that this was a kill-or-be-killed situation. The fallen soldier pointed his gun right at her.

You only have one chance, make it count. She thought.

The sergeant was ready to pull the trigger, but she quickly reacted by firing two whole shots into him, as the bullets pierced right through his vest. The bullets were so powerful that he was down after the two shots, if not before. He was still breathing, but was bleed and crawled against the humvee. He looked up and noticed Frank and Rebecca, on a broken leg, taking off and approaching Denyce. He rambled on about how "a zombie did him in" and how he would never become one of them. He then picked up a grenade, pulled the pin and sealed his fate right then. Denyce and everyone else looked on in shock but then got out of there before the explosion.

Everyone took off back to the safe house at that point. They even came across two surviving members of the team who were sent to rescue everyone. Frank found an ice cream truck and told everyone to get in, which they all fit into, strangely enough. It was better than having to deal with the gas zombies along the way.

They eventually found their way back to the safe house. They all went inside, but two people were left standing before Frank could take Rebecca to get some ice for her leg, he told Denyce to stay.

"Hey, listen, thank you so much for having my back out there," Frank said. "I could have been killed."

"I did tell you that I had your back, and I stuck by it," Denyce said.

"Well, I can't thank you enough for it, but I think it's time for you stay here for the rest of the time until we get out of here completely," Frank said. "I know there will be a way."

"You're right, besides I've been out there with no rest for the past few days, I need some rest," Denyce said. "I can't thank you enough for letting me help you. This has been one hell of an adventure for me."

"You're a great kid," Frank said, as he put out his hand.

She put out her hand and then shook his hand.


	30. Ray, Tell Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray talks to Cinda about a dilemma he had faced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a third part to "Survivors of Psychopaths."

While hanging out in the safe house, somehow a clique of some sort had formed among people who had dealt with some people who managed to snap because of the outbreak. Among the group, some people had met and got acquainted. It seemed that their mutual misfortunes had brought them together.

Among that group were Ray Teller and Cinda Smith, both of whom had encountered some survivors who had gone crazy in the middle of the outbreak.

How they both met was that Cinda and her friend Jasper came across this young woman who seemed familiar to Jasper. At some point, Ray joined in the mix when he walked around and found the other three in a room. When Ray and Danni, the woman who was dressed in a wedding gown, overheard what Cinda told Jasper about the stuff she went through, they decided to give their input on what they had gone through.

Unlike the other three, Jasper wasn't front and center like Cinda was. He and Cinda had found their own makeshift safe zone on top of Hamburger Fiefdom in the food court. Cinda had gone to find some food for both of them and then got caught up in some stuff.

But even when they talked, they didn't go into every last detail that happened. The bride-to-be, but obviously didn't-want-to-be, didn't want to share all the details about what she went through. She felt that it would have been better to share some details in private with one person. She seemed traumatized at the time when she met them. After what she went through, could anybody blame her? Even Cinda's experience was as traumatic, more or less.

Of course, the clique had found others who were held hostage by other survivors who just snapped or lost their grips on reality. But regardless, Ray felt an attraction towards Cinda.

She was an attractive young girl, no doubt about that. Her good looks drew his attention, add to the fact that he thought she had a nice figure as seen through those slacks and that white button-down shirt she wore with a bowtie. It's a common thing that appearance is what draws someone's attention, and this was no exception. He was an attractive guy himself and his attractiveness wasn't lost on Cinda, either. He had quite a muscular build to him that got her going a bit. Not that it mattered to her if the guy was thin, fat, or muscular. Besides, Ray wondered if Jasper was her boyfriend at first, until he saw that they didn't seem like a couple to him.

But one thing that made Ray want to get to know her was when she gave her friend, as well as her new friends, some details about the trauma she endured. He realized that he didn't give every detail about what happened in the South Plaza when he came across a mall cop who seemed like had watched too many western films in his day. There was more than met the eye.

But why didn't he share that bit? He was about to tell her one way or another. Why? No one knew. Maybe he wanted to make a point to talk to her, enough that he ran into her while she walked around the safe house, and said, "Hey, Cinda, what's going on?"

"Oh hey, Ray, right? I was just walking around. Trying to keep active, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. Anyway, you got a minute?"

"Sure, not a lot to do around here," she said.

If she didn't want to talk to him, she would have rejected his invitation. She could have stayed in the room where Jasper and Danni were, but she left those two to get acquainted. After all, Jasper was attracted to Danni, and Cinda was told that she had come into the club where they worked before.

The two had walked to the cafeteria, as that was one place where they could sit down and talk to each other face to face. Not that they couldn't do it in other rooms, but there were couches and cots in some rooms. Plus, some people were asleep and Ray didn't want to bother anybody. They were only at arms length at that point. They barely knew each other, so it would be best if they had a conversation if they were facing each other.

Ray found a table for those two to sit at. He pulled out a chair for her to sit on while he went pulled out his own.

"So how are you feeling? How are you doing?" Ray initiated the conversation, as he really wanted to talk to her.

"I'm fine, I guess," Cinda said. "It's just been crazy dealing with the outbreak and stuff. I wonder how I even managed to survive what I went through, too."

"I am the same way, except my friend wasn't so lucky," Ray said. "I felt like I left him to die."

"Wait, what? You didn't say anything about a friend earlier," Cinda said. "What happened?"

Cinda was rather shocked to hear about this. He only made a note about running to hide from a crazed mall cop who thought he was a cowboy, but he didn't make note of what that guy was doing. He was shocked to hear that she wanted to know more, despite barely knowing each other. She was as attracted to him as he was towards her. Attraction was a common thing despite not knowing each other well. This isn't like in movies where people fall in love within minutes of meeting.

Or maybe this was a different matter. Many of the survivors in the bunker had gone through some bad stuff, others didn't seem to care that they were among the infected. For example, Ray came across a girl who was more concerned about being seen in her bra and panties rather than become infected or worse, eaten. This was after he was rescued, too.

"I am really curious about this now," Cinda wanted to get some information out of him. She had gotten friendly with Danni, who confided in her about what she had gone through, especially with that fat guy with the chainsaw. She wondered why he wanted to talk to her, but at the same time, she also wanted to talk to him. If she didn't, she wouldn't have agreed to this. Besides, Ray seemed bothered while he was there. While he was glad to have met some people, it seemed like he was troubled over something he felt he could have prevented.

"Do you really want to know?" Ray asked.

"Yes," she didn't hold back. After all, she did share that the crazy chef had cooked human organs and was sure that he was going to cut her up and cook up some of her organs as well. Though she didn't share every last detail, Ray heard enough that it sounded rather disturbing to him.

Ray looked down, as he was reminded of his friend, whom he should have been there for, even though he likely would have suffered the same fate.

"Okay, I am going to share with you this story, but I know that I will sound like a disloyal friend in the process."

"Just tell me, Danni told me about what she went through, so I'm all ears," Cinda said. "It can't be any worse than what I went through, either."

Ray took a deep breath. It wasn't going to be easy to share this story with her, but he wanted to tell her.

* * *

**SOUTH PLAZA**

Ray walked around with a man with brown hair and wore a gray and white collared shirt with black pants. The young man was named Justin, and he appeared to be a friend to Ray. The two friends found refuge in the unfinished mall, even though it was crawling with the undead. Some zombies even appeared to be some construction workers that were likely working on parts of the mall but got infected.

The two friends found a hiding place inside an unfinished store. Lucky for them, zombies didn't come for them despite their being open doorways for them to come through. Justin sat near a wall that was right next to some doors to a maintenance room, while Ray stood around and kept watch for any zombies who would come in.

"Man, how the hell did we get into this?" Justin said. "It's bad enough that even these freaks are even here, too."

"Justin, don't worry, everything is going to be fine," Ray said. "At least _I_ think so."

Ray knew that they weren't alone around the mall and he didn't just mean that it had numerous zombies around. He saw that there were plenty of living people nearby, ranging from a quartet of oddly-dressed men inside an unfinished Ultimate Playhouse to a couple of female construction workers, one of whom wore a rather revealing top, which caught the eyes of both men. Whether it was because of how she held down the zombies or how she was dressed, it was uncertain.

"I am just scared, Ray," Justin said. "I mean I had heard about something like this happening before. I just didn't think that it would happen to us."

Ray turned around faced his visibly shaken friend sitting there. He walked towards him and said, "Everything will be okay. We're going to make it, trust me on this."

Justin had to take his friend's word for it. It wasn't easy, but he had to listen to him. Otherwise he would let his fear get the better of him. In that situation, he had to keep his head up high, or else any zombies would get him while he wasn't looking.

"Don't think I ain't scared, either," Ray said. "But if there was one thing that I learned from people is that you got to think positive in these types of situations."

At some point, three other people found the two friends. There were two women and one man. One of the women wore a hot pink shirt and tan jeans, and the other wore a lighter pink shirt with red pants. The man who was with them wore a green long-sleeve button-down shirt and black pants.

"Hello," said the girl in the hot pink top. "Can we stay here with you guys?"

Ray and Justin looked up and saw the group of survivors as Justin finally got to his feet.

"Listen, if this is a bad time, we'll try to find somewhere else to go," the girl said.

"No, don't go," Justin said. "You can stay here with us. I'm Justin." He then pointed to his friend, "This here is Ray."

The girl said, "Hi, I'm Crista." She pointed to the girl in the light pink shirt. "This is Sabrina." She then pointed to the man in green. "This is Aaron. We had a hard time finding a safe place to hide from the zombies. It didn't help that there were guys in gray sweatshirts trying to mug us but we ran as fast as we could to avoid them."

Much to the friends' shock, it seemed that some living people weren't just looking for safety. Some of them just looked for opportunity to rob people.

"We also saw these four guys in this one store, but all they cared about was their stupid game," Crista said. "I tried to knock on the window, and they didn't answer."

Their safe zone was the best that they could do at the moment. They all gathered and talked. Much to everyone's surprise, no zombies even tried going into where they were, despite some openings for zombies to enter through.

Out in the mall, a man in black pants, a white shirt and a white cowboy hat with a beard on his face walked around. He looked like a mall cop, except he picked up what looked like a revolver and started spinning it like a cowboy would in a western movie. He looked around to see if there was any suspicious behavior going on. A zombie had faced the mall cop dead (Or was it undead?) in the eye like it was hungry and ready for supper at that moment. The mall cop stood there in a stance like he was ready for a duel.

"Okay," the mall cop said. "DRAW!" he yelled.

He reached for his six-shooter and spun it and right when the barrel pointed to the zombie's chest, he fed the walking corpse a slug to the heart, which blew a big hole in the chest and through the back. He then saw that another zombie right behind the zombie he shot had dropped as the bullet had pierced through and killed the zombie that was behind the other. Then from a distance another zombie came walking towards him and he aimed the revolver towards the zombie's head. His left hand reached for the hammer and cocked it back as he pulled the trigger as the slug went straight to the zombie's head and blew its head off. The mall cop blew the smoke from the barrel and spun the revolver once again before holstering his weapon.

Inside the area near the maintenance room, Justin and Ray, along with their group had jumped from the sounds of the gunshots.

"What the hell was that?" Sabrina said.

"I wouldn't worry," Ray said. "I saw that one hot reporter Rebecca Chang earlier and she was shooting zombies with a pistol. People got to defend themselves, so it's nothing."

Nothing was of concern at the moment for that group of people. After all, the only things that concerned them were getting bitten, and if they had any resources that would last them. Lucky for them, Aaron managed to snatch some food for them at Bennie Jack's BBQ Shack, but how long would it last for them?

There wasn't a lot to do for the group in that time, and as time had gone on, they started running low on food for themselves. What made things even worse was that the number of zombies in the unfinished mall had increased. It had even been speculated that a lot of them came from the Fortune City Hotel that was connected to the mall. Some could have possible come from the arena that was connected on the other end of the mall.

"So what do we do?" Crista said. "There are a lot of zombies out there and we could get eaten if we try to go out there."

"We need to get more food, though," Sabrina said.

"I can't just go back to Bennie Jacks to get more food," Aaron said. "There are too many zombies out there. We won't make it."

"We have to try something," Justin cut in. "I know it may seem like it's far, but there are a few options I can think of. One could be that me and Ray could try checking out places for food at the food court in the Slot Ranch Casino. Or we can try a little closer and find some food at this diner on the Platinum Strip. What was it called?"

Ray answered his friend, "Dining at Davey's."

"That's the one," Justin said.

"What about us?" Crista said. "You guys are just going to leave us here?"

"We're not going to be gone for that long," Ray said. "We'll be back with the food before you know it."

Ray picked up a baseball bat that was lying in the area, while Justin picked up a crowbar.

"Don't worry about us," Ray said. "We'll be fine."

If only Crista's concern dawned on the two men that they weren't alone in the South Plaza, and she didn't mean the zombies either. After a while, more gunshots were heard. The sounds of the gunshots were similar to what they had heard before.

Ray and Justin took off to search for some food at the diner. They raced towards the hotel lobby with both of them running on opposite ends of the gigantic statue. Ray and Justin whacked some zombies that got in their way.

Once they got out of the hotel lobby, they raced towards the Platinum Strip, but then more gunshots were heard. The loudest came from above as a platform from above had someone firing shots, but the two men knew better as they walked through the tunnel under the platform. They didn't stop running until they reached the diner. Once they went inside, they went to find some food. It didn't matter what kind. They just took whatever they could find. All that mattered was their survival.

It was now time to get back, and they raced back to the South Plaza with the food in tow. More gunshots came their way. Once they exited the diner, a shot was fired and hot the window on the door where Ray stood next to. They were certain that if they wasted time, the next bullet wouldn't miss.

If only they knew what kind of threat would be found once they got back to the unfinished mall.

It didn't take long for the two friends to get back to the South Plaza. Once they walked through the doors from the hotel lobby, they both went to a complete stop, as the other three members of their little group were seen standing at the top of a scaffold with bags over their heads and their hands tied behind their backs. If that wasn't bad enough, they also noticed that three people had ropes tied around their necks. Then a man looked at them. He was dressed in a security uniform, but wore a cowboy hat.

"Well, well, looks like we got ourselves some more outlaws," the cowboy said. "I reckon that it's high time to teach y'all a lesson!"

Ray and Justin looked up at him like he was crazy. The cowboy reached for his revolver and spun it a few times and then holstered it. He jumped onto another scaffold below him and then the other and finally to the floor.

The cowboy looked at both of them in the eyes.

"Well, lookie here, two looters just think they can walk in here and do what they want, huh?" he said. "Not on my watch, no sir. I'm the sheriff here and you can't just waltz in here like ya own the place."

Ray and Justin looked up at the other three people. One of them shook their head. It appeared to be Crista. She looked right at them through the bag, implying that she wanted them to save themselves.

Justin leaned his against Ray and whispered, "You make a break for it. I will try to distract him and then I will follow you."

Ray looked at him like he was crazy. The cowboy was armed. They only had melee weapons to protect themselves, but they weren't going to do them any good against that man.

"If something happens to me, don't worry," Justin said. Ray looked at him with worry, but he had to trust his friend on this.

Ray took off running while the cowboy drew his gun and fired a shot but missed as it hit a metal pole. Justin took off running, too, but the cowboy thought ahead and reached for a rope that was tied in a lasso and twirled it before throwing it to Justin and then lassoed him by the legs before he hogtied him. Justin knelt there with his ankles and wrists tied before the cowboy drew his nightstick and whacked him in the face with it. Ray was home free, but then peeked out and noticed the cowboy beating poor Justin before he lifted him and put him on the scaffold above him.

"Where are ya, ya little yellow-belly? Come on out!" the cowboy yelled. Ray stood there shaken from what he just saw. He could have gone back and saved his friend, but he didn't.

After he was found by Chuck Greene, the man who fought the cowboy, he walked with him and then saw that his friend, along with the other three people in their group, were hanging at the end of the ropes. Ray was saddened by this sight. He felt bad for the other three people even though he didn't know them, but he felt worse for Justin. He wished that he could have saved him, but he didn't.

* * *

**FORTUNE CITY EMERGENCY SHELTER**

"So that's what happened," Ray said. "I feel terrible for not going back for my friend. It was bad enough that I ran like a coward to hide from that maniac."

Cinda sat there in silence. She wondered why he told her, but then she realized why he didn't share every detail. What she went through was terrible, too, but Ray felt worse because he felt like he left his friend to die.

"It wasn't your fault," she said. "That guy would have hung you like the other people or shot you. You said that he shot at you, too. I mean I thought that guy was going to cut me up and cook me. I was scared about what I went through, too. It looked like that guy was cooking human organs."

"I still feel like a bad friend, though," Ray said.

"Didn't your friend tell you to save yourself?" Cinda said. "If anything, he was looking out for you. Don't let this bother you too much. It's sad what happened to your friend, as well as those other people, but you wouldn't have made it if you had gone out there to confront that guy. Take it from me. That chef had me tied up and in a freezer. I know I didn't trust that guy Chuck at first, but if he hadn't gone to check out that restaurant, I would have been food by now."

Was she right about this? Cinda described her situation as traumatic as well. She had told Ray that she was only looking for food for herself and Jasper. They had a lot of options in the food court. At the time, it was hard to choose between the Wild West Grill House and Cucina Donnacci. How was she supposed to know that a crazy cannibalistic chef would have been in there cooking up humans? She wouldn't have known otherwise.

She put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel bad. Justin was a good friend to you. He was killed, but he told you to get out of there, too."

Ray nodded his head and wiped his eyes a bit with a napkin.

"You're right," Ray said. "Anyway, your friend told me that you two work at the Shoal Nightclub. What is that place like? I've never been there."

"It's a pretty wild club," Cinda said. "I get tipped well, though, even though a lot of guys try to flirt with me while I work."

"Do you go clubbing?" Ray said.

"I haven't done it in a long time, but I do like to dance sometimes," she said. "Why?"

"Oh, just wondering," Ray tried to cover up the real intentions behind his question. Cinda was able to see that he was attracted to her, so he wasn't hiding anything. In some ways, she kind of felt something for him. Not just the attraction, but also because of what he had told her. She saw that he was afraid to share that part of the story. She told him that he shouldn't worry about it, because he really didn't ditch his friend. If anything, Justin was a true friend to Ray and she saw that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my last one to date, which I wrote months ago. I might continue with some other ideas. It's more like a side thing these days.


	31. Fighting the Oppression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brandon Whittaker wants to support C.U.R.E.'s cause his own way, even at the cost of some lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all of you. I know it's been a while since I've done anything for this anthology, but as noted in a past chapter, it's mostly a side thing. Sometimes things will inspire me out of the blue.
> 
> It's amazing how long it has been since I had started it, as well as grown a lot as a writer over time that I look at the earlier ones and compare to the more recent ones. Some chapters for this I am not a big fan of, despite writing them.
> 
> Also, what led me to doing this, as well as updating my Dead Rising 1 anthology was the whole Coronavirus pandemic leading me to play them again.
> 
> Anyway, the following is something that I had been meaning to do. Like in my Dead Rising 1 anthology, this will be the first time I am touching on a psychopath character for this one.
> 
> Enjoy!

It had become pandemonium in the plaza of Fortune City, when all hell broke loose the moment the undead had risen out onto the depths of the plaza.

Members of Citizens for Undead Rights & Equality, better known as C.U.R.E., had protested the Terror Is Reality show that took place at the Fortune City Arena. They believed that the show was barbaric and mistreated the infected.

But it didn't matter. Thousands of people had attended the event, even though somehow a lot of zombies were brought in as part of the cannon fodder used for the contestants of the show. Whether it was the event of Master Shafter, Ramster Ball, Pounds of Flesh, among others, including the Slicecycles event that it was known for.

Brandon Whittaker, one of the newest members of C.U.R.E., had joined in on the protest against the event, along with its leader of the Nevada chapter, Stacey Forsythe. Others among the protest were Camille Payne, as well as her daughter Lillian.

C.U.R.E.'s cause was for the undead to have rights and to be seen as the people that they once were, not used for entertainment or experimentation. Which was all the more reason why Ms. Forsythe led the Nevada division to protest against the event. Of course, the reason he had joined was because he had a thing for Stacey. He wasn't so sure about joining until he saw the attractive redhead protesting one day he was getting high with some friends. But then another girl caught his eye. A young blonde girl named Vikki Taylor who was more about saving nature, but wasn't opposed to giving the undead the rights that they deserved either.

The undead had been quite known for a while now. Ever since the Willamette Incident, outbreaks had occurred in small towns such as Coyote Springs and Still Creek back in 2008, as well as Las Vegas, which made a lot of rounds in the media. It was a known fact that the undead was far from a novel concept.

But when all hell broke loose, Brandon fled to the Americana Casino to seek refuge from the undead. He split from his fellow C.U.R.E. members. Some likely died, others' statuses were unknown. The young man with dreads witnessed many innocent people get devoured by the walking corpses, as well as becoming one with them as well. Could this be the way to end the oppression? Was this what C.U.R.E. wanted?

For a few hours, Brandon had scoped the area, whether it was in the Americana Casino, or even in the Platinum Strip. Several more lives had ended in the process, but what really caught his eye when went inside Dining at Davey's to find some food and found a TV in there.

The first thing that was shown when he turned it on was the news. News reporter Rebecca Chang noted that it was Chuck Greene, an alleged member of C.U.R.E., had set off a bomb and unleashed all of the other zombies that T.I.R. had left over from the show.

Such was the key to Brandon wanting to bring peace to the infected. It had now hit him. Greene had been noted as a member of the organization. Maybe those gruesome images that Brandon had witnessed out in the Platinum Strip, the Americana, or even in the arena. Actually, everywhere in the Fortune City plaza had people dying and/or turning in the process. This whole fiasco may be what C.U.R.E. had wanted this whole time. To him, the undead was striking back against the oppression.

Though his initial reasoning to join was to meet the two young ladies, the whole outbreak gave him a whole new outlook on everything. When he saw the bodies of some of his C.U.R.E. comrades, as well as attendees of the event, after he saw the news report, it seemed that to him, the outbreak was the only way to get C.U.R.E. to fight the good fight. After all, even some of the fatalities led to some the living becoming one with the undead. This could be all that could lead to the equality that C.U.R.E. oh-so-desperately wants.

He went back to his hideout, which was the men's restroom in the Americana Casino, which was right next to the unfinished women's restroom. He walked up and back right in the corridor that divided the stalls and the urinals on the left side of the restroom.

"So what should I do for the cause?" Brandon said out loud. It was clear that there was nobody present, as he was merely thinking out loud.

"What could be the best way to fight for the cause?" He said.

He walked outside of the restroom and noticed a lot of zombies on the moving walkways, leading to the area where The American Historium was, all the way leading to Bennie Jack's.

He stood there and slowly walked to towards the open area. A smile rose on his face as he moved his right hand close to his chin. Even right in the casino, it became an epicenter for some more people to turn or get eaten. It was a sign, a sign of things to come. This could be the biggest chance to bring equality and make peace between the living and the infected.

He then saw a zombie coming right towards him. He gave a gesture to it, signaling so that the zombie could follow him. The zombie slowly walked towards Brandon, as he continued to guide it into the men's room. He then saw an open stall. He quickly went inside it as the zombie continued to come right for him. But he thought ahead and climbed to the stall right next to him and immediately opened the door so that he could close the door to the stall where the zombie was.

A huge grin emerged from his face as he put both of his hands together with the tips of his fingers pressed against each other.

_This is going to be great!_ He thought.

In that time, he then saw a man running for his life.

"Hey man, over here!" Brandon yelled.

The man looked over towards the hallway to the restrooms. He slowly walked towards the end of the hallway until he felt something grab him. Brandon picked him up and then threw the man into the restroom. Brandon then picked up a glass bottle and smashed it.

The poor man slowly crawled on the floor until he saw the broken bottle right in front of him.

"Don't move," Brandon said.

The man then felt his left him go right to his back. A clatter occurred as the bottle felt to the ground as the man felt his right arm go to his back. It wasn't long until both hands go together as something seemed to be tying them together.

"What the hell are you doing?" the man said.

The man looked up and saw Brandon standing right next to a bathroom stall.

"I'm just trying to end the suffering, man," Brandon said.

He then opened the door as the same zombie from before started to walk towards the man. The man's eyes widened and his shoulders started trembling and then started breathing hard. The man barely saw that the zombie's hands grabbed his shoulders even while he knelt on the ground. The man felt some teeth touching the left side of his neck.

Brandon stood there and watched as the zombie bit away at the man. Blood sprinkled, flesh broke open. It wasn't long until what was left of the man lied there in a pool of his own blood.

Brandon smirked and nodded his head right towards the zombie.

At some point that same day, he saw a familiar facing walking through Fortune Park carrying a potted plant. In fact, the familiar face turned out to be Vikki Taylor.

Even amid all of the undead swarming the area, the young girl was careful and went so far as to find a plant in the process.

"Vikki!" Brandon yelled.

Vikki turned her head and saw him coming up from the stairs right next to the Royal Flush Plaza. Even in that moment, while the undead was swarming, it wasn't all too bad in that very moment.

"Brandon, you're alive," Vikki said.

"Yes, I am, and I came up with a solution for all of our problems," Brandon said.

Vikki looked at him with a minor squint in her eyes as she backed up a tad.

"What are you talking about?" she said. Even though they were in the middle of an outbreak, she couldn't help but feel confused.

"I realized that for our cause, we need to show that the undead should not be oppressed and that in order to get the naysayers to shut up, maybe we need to show them what's up," Brandon said.

"Are you serious?" Vikki said. "I mean it's bad that zombies get treated like that in that horrible show, but what you're saying is insane."

Brandon looked directly into Vikki's eyes. "Look all around you. This is what C.U.R.E. needs in order to show the world what we want for the infected."

Vikki shook her head a bit, even while gripping the plant pot in her hands. "I don't agree with this. While I do get your point, what if for some reason the city gets bombed? Besides, I feel that we should also save some of the plants that originated here."

Brandon gave her a minor glare. "Oh, come on, listen to yourself. You heard what Stacey said in that news report. We need to take drastic action now. Maybe this 'drastic action' that's going on around us is what we needed in the first place."

Vikki then turned her head and watched a lot of carnage take place. Zombies eating the flesh and taking out some organs from innocent victims, others were struggling as their skin started to fade and get paler. It was apparent what was going on.

"Listen, you can do what you want," Vikki said. "But I want to help save this type of plant."

She shook her head a bit and turned around in the opposite direction. "You're crazy, Brandon."

Brandon stood there and watched as Vikki started walking away. The eyebrow area started to wrinkle a bit, while his bottom lip started to open a crack to expose his teeth a tad as his jaw area started twitching.

While Vikki may have had a point about Brandon's newfound vision on the cause for C.U.R.E., to Brandon, it seemed that she mostly cared about a plant more than the cause. She had joined the organization as she didn't agree with the treatment, but it almost seemed like her own personal cause was about making the world green again. But wasn't that also C.U.R.E.'s own agenda as well? After all, as the undead had become more common up to that point, they were likely fighting for peace for them, no matter how dangerous they could be.

Vikki walked off while carrying the plant, but Brandon rushed towards her. He went right behind her and grabbed her by her right shoulder. He grabbed her so hard, as the potted plant slipped from both of her hands. She felt it slip, as she saw the pot fall right the ground and break.

"Oh no, not the Fortunea Aspidistra!" Vikki yelled. She quickly turned around with a minor scowl and then felt something grab her legs and then felt her feet lift from the ground and then bent over. The only thing she saw was the ground and the back of Brandon's green shirt.

"Let me go!" Vikki said.

But Brandon said nothing. He had only one thing on his mind to help end the oppression. In his mind, Vikki seemed to have betrayed the beliefs of C.U.R.E. For that, he was going to make her pay.

He continued to carry her. He didn't stop until he reached the front doors to the Americana Casino. Nothing could stop him, as he passed by any zombies were on the casino floor, even when there were a couple of live people rioting the slot machines. The man and the woman trying to loot paid the insane man no mind, and Brandon paid no mind to the two looters. He was solely on a mission.

Before long, Brandon had brought Vikki to the men's room. He set her to the floor. But Vikki had other ideas. When she hit the floor, she started to quickly crawl away. But Brandon grabbed her by one of her boots. He turned her body right onto her back and then got into her face.

"Don't move!" Brandon said with such rage in his voice. "Or else!" He immediately put a glass shard right to her neck.

The blood in Vikki's veins flowed rapidly, as her heart started pounding. Her shoulders trembled and she started breathing hard like she was running out of air.

He quickly turned her body face down and quickly got out a rope to tie her wrists together. What could this man possibly be planning? Vikki didn't want to know, but she had a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to end it here, as it would lead to the psychopath boss fight with Brandon. I like to think that Vikki was probably a C.U.R.E. member, but her main focus was trying to help the ecosystem.
> 
> I also recently had started wondering if I should touch on the survivors from "Case Zero" and "Case West," and if I do, should I include them in THIS anthology? Or should I do a separate one? Because the number of survivors in "Case Zero" is rather small, while the one for "Case West," that all depends on which scientists have any stories that I can do. So should I do this? If so, should I include those particular survivors from CZ and CW in this or in separate ones? I will note that I included some "Off the Record" characters in this, but then I also used some for my spin-off, "Dead Rising: A Dead Getaway." Though the use of OTR survivors were more like "what if" scenarios. I have even thought about doing one on Dead Rising 3 survivors, particularly the posse members, but I don't know yet. What do you think?
> 
> It's been almost eight years since I had started doing this. It's amazing that I still update it from time to time, but at the same time, it makes me wonder if I should continue for it or start something new. For those wondering, yes, this is the first chapter I did in which I made a psychopath as the focal point. You could argue about the one with Bibi and Angel Lust, but this one was about a psychopath that you actually FIGHT. I must say that I sometimes look back on the Bibi/Angel Lust one and laugh about it, but it was pretty much a comedic chapter. In my headcanon, I like to think it was just Jeanna and Bibi that collaborated, not the rest of the band.
> 
> I also will say that I had thought about doing another spin-off. Not in the sense of "A Dead Getaway," by any means, though I will say that I enjoyed writing that one a lot and wouldn't mind doing one like that again. Anyway, regarding the potential spin-off that I am considering, I might touch on a "pilot" sort-of story for it, but I don't know. I don't know if it should be on here or if I should start fresh.
> 
> Anyway, I have some other ideas for this and my Dead Rising 1 anthology. Peace out.


	32. Alive or Dead?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story about Adrian Lee and Andy Talbat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be something that I've never before for this story, although I am considering doing it for "Tales of the Survivors of Willamette," the Dead Rising 1 survivor anthology. This will be centered on one of the victims, whom has a connection with a savable survivor. For more info, there will be another note after the chapter.

What a wild night it had been in Fortune City, with the Terror is Reality event selling out with a capacity crowd on hand. Many people had come out to the event to watch a lot of barbaric carnage inflicted on the infected. Whether it was considered unethical, it was popular enough that it was now on its 17th event.

Among the attendees were Andy Talbat and his half-brother Adrian Lee. They had a strong resemblance to one another, despite being half-brothers, likely because they take after their father. Andy was born through his father and his mother, but Adrian was the result of an extramarital affair that their father was a part of.

That affair led to Andy's mother leaving their father, who not only was unfaithful, but also abusive in some areas. Not just to Andy's mother, but also to Adrian's mother at times. But with Adrian having been the product of the affair, it meant that Andy had a half-brother.

In spite of everything that occurred, Andy and Adrian had quite a close relationship. Due to their strong resemblance to one another, some had even wondered if they were twins, as they had the exact same facial features and blonde hair. But there was also a difference in their styles.

That night, Andy was dressed in a long-sleeve orange shirt with blue jeans, while Adrian was dressed more like a skater. He had on a black T-shirt over a long-sleeve white shirt, dark cargo shorts, and skater shoes. For some reason, he even brought along a backpack and was wearing a green bandanna around his neck like how a cowboy would. Another noticeable difference was that Adrian had his hair done in a faux-hawk.

The two brothers decided to have a little trip from their hometown of Carson City, Nevada to head out to Fortune City to check out the event.

The two waited outside the arena to get in.

"Man, can you believe this?" Adrian said. "We got tickets to Terror Is Reality. How awesome is that?"

"It's pretty awesome, but I just can't sometimes believe that this type of show is allowed to be shown on TV," Andy said as he stood in line with his brother. "I mean you're literally watching some zombies get killed on live TV. What's next? Live footage from the war?"

"Relax, bro," Adrian said. "It's not like this is all we're going to do while we're here."

"What do you mean 'we'?" Andy said. "You're only 19. It's not like you can gamble and shit."

"Why do you got to say that?" Adrian said. "People think we're twins all the time. It's not like you don't get carded either."

"I just don't want to see you get into trouble," Andy said. "Besides, even though we got the tickets in advance, somehow we were contacted by those 'Tape It or Die' guys to do the meet and greet, remember?"

"Oh shit, I forgot about that," Adrian said. "I don't know if they said that they were only going to be here for just TIR. They got to be here until at least tomorrow."

"I don't know about this, Adrian," Andy said. "I mean I know that the undead is common, especially after all the shit that happened in Vegas a few years ago. Let's not forget that around that same time that small casino town Coyote Springs or even that small town in the middle of nowhere Still Creek got infected. But do you really think that those guys know what they're talking about?"

"They got to," Adrian said. "I read a lot of their blog posts and they seem to know their shit. I even read about how one of those guys can make weapons out of random stuff. You can't tell me that they don't know their shit."

Andy sighed a bit. "I hope you're right. With this big event involving killing events, I just hope that no zombies get loose."

Adrian rolled his eyes a tad at what he just heard his brother say. "Come on, Andy, when was the last time you heard that the zombies broke loose at other TIR shows? It didn't happen then, it won't happen tonight."

"Yeah, but remember that the outbreak in Las Vegas started at the Thomas and Mack Center during that motocross event?" Andy said. "I mean what are the chances that something like that will happen here?"

"Like I said, brother, there haven't been any outbreaks that occurred at other TIR shows," Adrian said. "I have my doubts."

"Whatever you say, bro," Andy said.

Despite what his half-brother was telling him, Adrian had reason to believe that there shouldn't be much to worry about. In fact, TIR had some insane events in the past. For example, the previous event involved politicians taking part in some zombie-killing. Or even an event at the one before, with a volleyball-style game, but with explosives.

Of course, Adrian saw that Andy was trying to look out for him, which he shouldn't be mad about. As they waited in line, Adrian looked around and saw a blonde girl with a pink top catch his eye. She was approaching with some other girls as they went right behind him and Andy.

The young girl and Adrian made eye contact. The girl smiled, and Adrian smiled right back at her.

"Hi," the young girl said.

"Hi," Adrian said. "You're coming to this event, too?"

"Yeah, but I was sort of dragged to this," the girl said. "My parents wanted to see this show, but I just went with them. I don't even know why I came. I'm only 18. Not like I can't do much while I'm here."

"Not the case, you'll find something. I'm only 19, but there's got to be something around here for us youngsters to do," Adrian said. "I'm Adrian, by the way. This is my brother Andy."

The moment Andy heard his name, he turned around and politely waved at the girl.

"Wow, you two look so much alike," the girl said. "My name is Kalee."

"Nice to meet you," Adrian said.

"Same," Kalee said. "I hope that you have fun. Hopefully I see you in there."

Just then, Kalee walked off with an older man and older woman, presumably her parents. Adrian looked on.

"Did you get the digits?" a voice right next to him said.

Adrian jumped when he heard that as he shook a tad. He then looked to his left as Andy looked directly at him.

"Oh, sorry about that," Adrian said. "I was a bit distracted."

"I saw you talking to her, Adrian," Andy said. "You better hope you see her again. I saw the way you two were talking."

"It was nothing," Adrian said. "I was just being friendly."

"Yeah, sure," Andy said. "Come on, the doors have opened. Let's go find our seats."

The two brothers went inside the Fortune City Arena. It was now time for the event to start, as four contestants with different colored outfits took the stage in the arena floor to engage in the event.

For hours, the two had enjoyed themselves, but there were moments when one of them would either have to go use the restroom or go get concessions, or even get merchandise. Andy saw a black and gray jacket with the TIR logo on it that appealed to him a lot, but then saw that it was out of his price range. While Andy was looking at more merchandise, Adrian noticed the same blonde girl from before walking around.

"Hey, Kalee," Adrian yelled out.

Kalee looked up and saw Adrian and then went up to him. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Nothing, just here looking at some stuff," Adrian said. "Having fun?"

"I guess, I don't really see the appeal, but my parents love this stuff," Kalee said.

"I get you," Adrian said. "Hey, as long as you make the most of this trip, that's all that matters."

"Yeah, I guess so," Kalee said. "So I was wondering. Being that me and my folks will be here for a few days, I was wondering if you would like to meet up."

"Sure, I would like that," Adrian said. "Can I have your number?"

Kalee nodded her head and then told Adrian her number. Being that the two were under 21, there was more to check out than the casinos. The plaza had two malls. There was even a movie theater on the Platinum Strip. So they could make the most of the trip.

Andy then turned around with the jacket in hand. He saw Adrian standing there totally still. No arms moved, not a single ounce in his body moved.

"Hey, Adrian," Andy said.

Once again, Adrian broke out of his trance.

"Are you in love, brother?" Andy said.

"Shut up, Andy," Adrian said.

"I'm just saying," Andy said. "I see the way you look at her. Besides, she is pretty girl. I hope you two hang out while we're here."

Adrian turned his body to face his brother.

"Hey, bro, while we're here, why don't you try meeting some girls yourself?" Adrian said. "I mean I see a bunch of lookers around here. You might even see some out at the casinos and shit."

"I don't know about that," Andy said.

"Why not? Don't tell me you're still pining for Ana," Adrian said. "I know you two had quite a thing a while back, but come on, bro, she's not coming back."

"What does Ana have to do with anything?" Andy said.

"Oh come on, you know she moved out to Florida," Adrian said. "She went there for school, remember? But then she stopped talking to you. You need to get over her. You haven't talked to her in about a year or so."

When Adrian mentioned a girl named Ana, Andy was caught in a bit of a bind. She was the last girl he had dated up to that point. Andy couldn't believe he was getting this trip from his younger brother like this, but Adrian had a point. Ana had moved out to south Florida for school. She and Andy hadn't spoken to each other in a while. He even saw that his brother didn't mean just to date, but also to maybe get laid while there. Besides, what happens in Fortune City stays in Fortune City.

"You're right," Andy said. "We should get back to our seats."

"Hey, one more thing," Adrian said as they were headed back into the arena. "Give me your jacket. I'll put it in my backpack."

Andy nodded. They were going back to enjoy the rest of the show.

After another hour or so, the show had ended. Andy took off to go the bathroom, while Adrian sat back to wait for the arena to clear up and to wait for Andy to come back.

But it wasn't long until Adrian heard some screams occur in the front lobby, as well as in other sections of the seating after that. He got up and saw that some people were running and then tripping down the stairs in the aisles.

"What the hell…?" Adrian said and then got up. His jaw dropped a bit when he saw what looked like maybe a spare zombie going down some stairs, as well as tripping while going up the stairs.

"Shit, Andy!" Adrian said out loud. He remembered that his half-brother went to the restroom. He would be damned if his brother got caught up outside.

He quickly ran by the empty seats and then towards the door to the hallway that goes around for the other areas of the arena. But right in front of him was the door to the main lobby.

Adrian exited through the door and saw some zombies in the hallway and grabbing some other attendees and event staff members. While he was horrified at the sight of people getting killed right in front of him, but there was nothing he could do. He reached the end of the hallway where the stairwell was that lead down the lobby. Several other people were caught up in the mess. Then he saw that Kalee was down there.

"KALEE!" Adrian yelled out.

Kalee heard the yell. She stood there right next to some stairs and another hallway that led to the Americana Casino.

"ADRIAN!" Kalee yelled.

Though he had just met her, Adrian wanted to come to her aid. He ran down the stairs and did as much as he could, even if it meant jumping over the corpses of some people that were alive just moments ago, or even now-completely-dead zombies.

He ran and as he got closer, Kalee got surrounded some more by the zombies that were close by. Some grabbed her and then pushed her to the ground. Adrian looked on and was shocked at what he just saw. Though he had seen some people get eaten or had limbs torn off right before his very eyes, he felt somewhat of a connection with this girl and was shocked at what just occurred in front of him.

He wanted to save her, but he was too late. But not late enough as it wasn't long until he saw that he was getting surrounded by zombies as well.

"Oh shit," Adrian said. More of them surrounded him and it wasn't long until they were close enough that he found himself on the ground.

Even while that happened, he heard a male voice yell out his name. It started to get louder as the sound of the voice sounded closer than before. Adrian lied there as a zombie was right on top of him. He was ready to accept his fate, until a miracle happened, as the zombie was pushed right off of him, and some of the other surrounding zombies were pushed way. Some were even killed in the process.

Adrian saw a familiar face standing over him. It was Andy.

"Adrian, you're okay," Andy said and put his arm out to help his brother get up.

"No, I am not okay," Adrian said.

Andy took a closer look at Adrian. There were multiple bite marks on him, ranging from his arms, legs, and even a minor mark on his neck.

"Oh shit," Andy said.

"Andy, go, don't worry about me," Adrian said.

Andy panted a bit as he stood over Adrian's body on the ground. He shook his head a bit, too.

"You're my brother, I'm not leaving you here," Andy said. "Come on."

"Just go, it's too late for me," Adrian said. "Here." Adrian barely moved his body up and slowly pulled his left arm out of the left strap of his backpack and did the same for the right side.

"I can't do that!" Andy didn't want to cooperate, but after seeing more zombies come towards Adrian's body on the ground, and Andy as well, Adrian yelled at Andy to go save himself. Andy had no choice but to comply and took off running. He had his younger brother's backpack with him.

Andy ran off and then went right to the front doors of the arena. He turned around and saw that the zombies had completely surrounded him. Whether they were just going to eat him or tear off his limbs to feast on, Andy didn't want to see it happen to his half-brother.

Right before Adrian's last breath, he knew that there was no chance to survive this ordeal. Even though he had only met Kalee that night, he felt horrified that she was killed in the process. Who knows what happened to her parents as well? He had hoped that Andy would make it out of there okay. He cared about his brother that much, especially since those two were close despite there being not much of a relationship with their father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it's time I explain some stuff here. It seems like I retconned some stuff from previous chapters. Actually, I had thought of Andy and Adrian being brothers when I was writing "A Dead Getaway" sometime ago. I didn't think of it when I started it nearly two years ago, but it was actually when I got to either chapter 14 or 15 of that story. He and Andy had the exact same face model, so I thought why not make them brothers. Yes, I know that several survivors and such used similar models, but these two were so similar that I wanted to make them brothers, just like how in a past chapter, I made Kristin and Willa cousins. Adrian was one of the victims at the start of the game, so I wanted to write about him. Kalee was also another one of the victims. Her full name was Kalee Timmons.
> 
> The chapter title was also a reference to the mission when you find Andy, except the words were switched around.
> 
> I know that I had done multiple chapters with Andy, and some of them were related to the ship of him and Tammy, but this was before the two had met. The reference to the character of Ana was actually related to one of my original characters in "A Dead Getaway," Ana Torres. She is actually one of the co-protagonists of that story, if not a deuteragonist. That story was actually set two years after this one (as well as Dead Rising 2), which had Andy and Tammy already together up to that point.
> 
> Regarding doing chapters on other victims, I am not sure, but I think I can work with some. I am not opposed to doing some on the first survivors that go to the safe house. I mean the ones like Skylar, Anim, Chrystal, Tamara, Lulu, Kristopher, etc. I think I can come up with some stuff for some of them.
> 
> That's about all I can say. I might touch on some other psychopaths or any other survivors, or maybe even other victims if I can find something to work with on them. Anyway, peace out.


	33. Retail Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is centered on another psychopath. You'll figure out who it is after a while. I'll give some more commentary afterwards.

It was just another day for Brent Ernst, a young man at the age of 18 who had been working at Kids' Choice Clothing for a while. He had started working there sometime during his senior year of high school, but it was now September and was still fresh out and was working there while taking a few courses at a community college.

It wasn't much, but it kept the young man busy. The casino plaza in Fortune City was known to be rather busy, even in the Palisades Mall. So much foot traffic swarmed in the shopping center. Whether consumers were actually shopping, getting their drink on in that small bar in the center with the waterslide, working out in Flexin' on the first floor, or just plain going to the Yucatan or Atlantica, this place had it all.

For what's considered to be an adult playground, Fortune City had a good amount of stores for children, likely because parents either brought their children and took them to those places or maybe to get stuff for their kids, whether they were locals or tourists. Kids' Choice Clothing was definitely one of those examples.

Just a few months prior, the store manager had hired a young woman named Louise Jameson. Like Brent, she just did menial tasks, whether it was checking on customers, doing tasks at the door like giving out ads and the like, or even organizing inventory.

Louise was a high school friend of Brent's, but unbeknownst to her, Brent has had a crush on her for a long time but had a hard time expressing it to her. Fortunately for him, she didn't mind his company.

One night, the two worked their standard shift. They were given the job to put out some clothes and some toys that the store carried for some reason. Louise handled the clothes, while Brent helped even though he was assigned to help organize the toys and clean up some of the mess that some inconsiderate consumers just left behind.

"Man, this sucks," Brent said. "I can't believe how people can be like this sometimes. Do they just take the whole 'the customer is always right' saying for granted or what?"

Louise turned towards Brent. "I wouldn't worry about this, you see this all the time, anyway. It's like that everywhere. Remember when we tried to do some act at school? Some assholes threw some shit at us. It was even bad when you were the mascot. Those guys even beat you up."

Brent looked at her and nodded. His eyes lit up through his glassed and around his jawline, he smirked a bit. Louise looked right at him and noticed the smile on his face, even through some of Brent's beard that he was trying to grow.

"Hey, are you trying to grow a beard?" Louise said.

"I wouldn't say that I'm _trying_," Brent said as he put a bag of marbles into a bucket. "I just haven't shaved lately."

"Well, whatever you're doing, keep it up, it looks nice," Louise said.

Just then, Brent lit up even more like a firework being launched into the air. His face rose and turned as red as anybody would if they hung upside down.

_Man, Brent, just tell her how you feel!_ He thought. It was bad when dealing with pressure like this. The manager had those two work together that night to help set up, especially when that following Saturday that things were bound to get crazier than usual. Fortune City was already busy, but things were about to pick up.

He looked right at Louise and admired her shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. But really, she was just too focused on her task to even take notice of his admiration.

"Hey, Louise, I want to ask you something," Brent said. "In fact, I need to tell you something."

Louise finished hanging some child shirts, as well as folding some pants and setting them aside. She turned to face Brent.

"Okay, what do you need to tell me?"

Brent froze, his mouth opened a tad, his fingers twitched. He was at a loss for words. As much as he wanted to tell Louise something, it felt like something bigger than it actually was. How could something seemingly simple be so difficult?

"Well, you see…" Brent started talking.

RING! RING! RING! Out of the blue, Louise's cellphone rang.

"Just a sec, Brent, I got to take this," Louise said. She looked at the screen. It said "Marshall" on there. Marshall was the manager, at least for their shift. The stores were open 24 hours as Fortune City never sleeps, but Brent and Louise worked afternoon to evening.

Louise walked out of the store and passed right by a cardboard cutout featuring a character named Slappy and another character named Slappy. There were posters on opposite ends of the store for some clothes and toys related to those characters. She walked right up to the recently-closed Army Surplus Gift Store, which was located to the right of Kids' Choice Clothing and right in front of some escalators.

"Hello, Marshall?" Louise said.

Brent stood there in awe. He hoped that this wasn't another man who was trying to win her heart. He had his eye on Louise for a while but had a hard time letting her know how he felt about her. They had known each other for a while. In fact, he was the one who helped her get the job at Kids' Choice Clothing. He watched as Louise talked on the phone. She stood there and turned around and walked around a bit. The way he looked at her, he had so much concern, despite that the look on her face didn't seem like she was speaking to another guy whom she could admire.

It wasn't long until Louise got off the phone and then headed back into the store.

"What's going on?" Brent said.

"That was Marshall, he wanted to ask us if we were busy on Saturday," Louise said.

"What? He's asking us to work on Saturday?" Brent said.

"Yes, but not like you think," Louise said.

She paused for a bit and took a deep breath.

"You see," Louise said. "On Saturday, you know how there is supposed to be the big launch of the Slappy and Suzy line? There is supposed to be the dolls and the clothes. Well, Rob and Sheri called Marshall and they said that they can't make it. Sheri hurt herself trying to handle the skates, while Rob came down with the flu yesterday. So he asked me if you and I should take their spots on Saturday."

Brent's eyes widened and took a deep breath. He even took off his glasses to wipe the lenses a bit.

"That's what he wants us to do?" Brent said.

"Yeah, are you up for it?" Louise said.

"I don't know about this," Brent said.

"Oh come on, it would be fun," Louise said. "Besides, you and I have done theater before and you've been a mascot at our old school, remember?"

"What about the skates?" Brent said.

"I wouldn't worry," Louise said. "It's only from 3 to 4. We're likely going to get pictures with some kids that day and stuff. It shouldn't be too bad. I haven't skated in a while, but I could try to polish it up a bit."

Brent was at a loss. This was so sudden. Their boss called and asked if they could fill in for a couple of coworkers of theirs. But the fact that their boss wanted him and Louise to fill in just seemed like an opportunity to spend time with Louise more.

"Okay, I'll do it," Brent said.

"Great!" Louise smiled. "By the way, what did you want to tell me?"

Just like that, Brent froze once again. He took another deep breath. He had to let her know sooner or later.

"Louise, it's time I tell you this," Brent inhaled and then exhaled. "You see, I like you. I have always liked you and, how do I put this? Would you like to go on a date with me sometime? Not just to fill in and wear some costumes as a couple of cartoon characters, but I mean maybe go on an actual date."

Louise's eyes widened and mouth opened. She moved her right hand over her mouth. "Oh…"

"If you don't want to do this, that's fine," Brent said.

"No, I just can't believe you're telling me this," Louise said. "In fact, Brent, I like you, too. I just had a hard time telling you as well."

"Really?" Brent said.

"Yeah, I mean you're not like other guys," Louise said. "Even when some of those 'cool' guys tried to hit on me, I wasn't sure if it was for some cruel joke or for something even worse. But I wasn't falling for any of it. And yes, I would love to go on a date with you."

Brent lit up like a high-beam now. "Okay, when do you want to do this?"

"We can do it after the whole event with us dressed like Slappy and Suzy," Louise said.

"Wait, isn't Saturday also the day of that Terror is Reality event?" Brent said. "It's going to be crazy out there."

"Relax, it should be fine, there's more out here we can do," Louise said. "Besides, we can go to the theater on the Platinum Strip. I want to check out that 'Mutant Crunch' movie or even 'Bazooka Bad Boyz.'"

"We'll figure out something," Brent said.

Both people were relieved that they finally admitted their feelings to one another. Now they just needed to see what they could do for their date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't already figure it out, Brent was the guy dressed as Slappy, while Louise was the girl dressed as Suzy, the mascot that was found dead right by the store in that part where you fight Slappy.
> 
> This story was actually set before the events of Dead Rising 2, as I wanted to do a story based around these two outside of the costumes. It's supposed to show how it pushed Brent over the edge when he confronted Chuck. Personally, I liked how the Off the Record version was written as it showed how much Brent/Slappy lost his grip on reality. But with me writing this, it showed how much Brent really liked Louise that he blamed Chuck for causing her death.
> 
> Also, if you look up the Dead Rising wiki, there was a model for Slappy without the mask/head as it showed what Brent looked like. What's weird is that for Louise/Suzy, there wasn't as face made for her.
> 
> The movies that were mentioned were among the movies that you could watch when going into the theater during the gameplay.
> 
> I might do another psychopath eventually. I might even touch on the Case West and/or Case Zero ones (Though I think the Case West ones would be easier because I need to find something to do with the scientists from Case West). Anyway, until then, peace out.


	34. Shopping Spree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bessie, Rosa, and Erica go on a shopping spree in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be somewhat of a revision or at least a tale of what happens to these women before Chuck meets them. Personally, the chapter I did on Erica, Rosa, and Bessie a long time ago is among the chapters that I am not fond of doing. Why? It's mostly due to the interaction between them and the Guardian Angels trio, whom I felt added nothing to that chapter. But I wrote that chapter a long time ago. This one is going to be more about a situation they got into. Enjoy!

For some people, the zombie had no real impact on people, except maybe opening some opportunities for some people to seize.

Such was the key for Rosa Collins, Bessie Kent, and Erica Mayes, three friends who were seemingly loaded. Given the way they were dressed, they had quite an expensive taste in clothing. But the clothes that they were wearing wasn't enough for them, as they seized the perfect opportunity to scope the stores in the Palisades Mall and the Royal Flush Plaza for any "special sales" going on.

The three ladies went around both malls in Fortune City. They searched for stores that sold women's clothes. There wasn't a lot to choose from, but they going make this worth their while, even with such danger occurring around them.

Erica, the woman who was of mixed descent looked around the Palisades Mall and a smirk rose on her face. She happened to be a fashion journalist. With that line of work, it would seem that she came from a rich upbringing to have such expensive tastes and mainly did journalism as a job but not for monetary reasons.

"Hey, Erica, did you find something?" Rosa said. Rosa was a brunette woman who had a gray dress on. Bessie wore a white and blue dress with some magenta near the shoulders and had more of a ginger appearance. She had the look of a debutante. Maybe she _was_ a debutante.

"No, not yet," Erica said. "I just think that what we're doing could make for an interesting story."

Bessie shrugged. "Can we just go find some clothes right now? We don't have to worry about lines right now, so let's just get going."

They started to walk around, but with Bessie leading the way, as she was their de facto leader, being that she was the oldest of the trio.

While they were walking around trying to avoid the zombies, Rosa leaned towards Erica and whispered, "I like your idea for your article. That would be great."

The good thing about these three ladies was that they knew how to defend themselves, especially Rosa. They probably took some self-defense courses, but even then, there was more than just the undead roaming around the malls that they should be concerned about.

It seemed that there were a lot of men in the malls, as well as other areas of Fortune City that had similar ideas for similar opportunities. They were wearing gray sweatshirts and had bandannas on their faces to conceal their identities. Some were found in some shops of the malls, especially Marriage Makers in the Royal Flush Plaza. The way they were going about it was they looted the shops. No employees were present, nor was security around. So it was open season for those hooligans to loot the shops and also possibly, if likely rob some survivors.

The three ladies went to check out Brand New U on the second floor of the Palisades Mall. So many clothes lied around on display. Even a summer dress was on display on a mannequin in the store, which caught the eye of one of the ladies. They all went right for anything they could find in the store. But what separated these ladies from those looters out in the vicinity was that each of them left a sum of money on the counter so that they could ensure that they paid for the clothes.

However, it wasn't over for them, as they wanted to continue on their little shopping spree. There were no other women's clothing shops in the Palisades Mall. So it was now time to check out the Royal Flush Plaza.

It was true. These women were shopping around like it was any other time to go shopping. Except there was nobody to ring them up when making their purchases. It didn't matter to them that zombies were around.

The ladies managed to leave the Palisades Mall by going through a door that was close to a hallway that was mainly for employees as there was an elevator nearby, as well as a maintenance room. They found themselves in a back alley. Bessie, Rosa, and Erica all carried their bags from Brand New U and found a back door. Bessie led the way and saw some colorful stuff in the hallway until they found themselves inside a store that had some leather outfits, dirty magazines and DVDs, and of course, sex toys.

"What the hell?" Bessie said. "Where are we?"

"Um, it looks like a sex shop," Rosa said.

"We must be inside Hot Excitorama," Erica said.

Bessie and Rosa looked at their friend with confused looks on their faces.

"You've been here before?" Rosa said.

"Hey, I'm only familiar with this place," Erica said. "I saw this place around when we were walking around this strip earlier."

"Sure…" Rosa said in a sarcastic manner. Bessie started to laugh a bit.

"Whatever, let's just go find another store," Erica said. "I know a store we can check out in the Royal Flush Plaza. Come on."

As usual, Bessie led the way for her two friends as they exited the sex shop. But as they walked down the Silver Strip, a few guys dressed in gray hoodies were exiting the pawn shop called Tinkerbox. The ladies were carrying bags. One of the looters looked on at them. Perhaps given the way their dressed, they probably had some money on them.

"Hey, guys," the lead looter said. "I got an idea. Look over there." He point towards the trio of ladies.

"I think they got something we want," the lead looter said. Even though he had a mask on, the look in his eyes indicated that a smile rose on his face. "Come on, let's go."

It wasn't long until the ladies had gone down the stairs, even through taking down a few zombies in the process. They passed the sign that said "Silver Strip" on it that divided both sets of stairs and were now close to the entrance to the Royal Flush Plaza. But not too far behind was a trio of looters chasing them down.

Once they got inside the mall, through the eyes of the three ladies were a swarm of zombies, a sports car in between two sets of slot machines and to their right were Roy's Mart and Modern Businessman.

"Okay, Erica, what store do you want to check out?" Bessie said.

"It's upstairs, follow me," Erica said.

Bessie and Rosa stood behind Erica, as she was the one to lead this time. However…

"Hey, ladies!" a male voice yelled.

Bessie, then Rosa, and finally Erica turned around and saw three men with gray sweatshirts, bandannas cover their faces, and wielding crowbars, flashlights, and what looked like some weird weapon that looked like a taser, but was probably used for something else.

"Got any money, ladies?" the lead looter said in such a sinister tone, with another looter slamming a crowbar into the palm of his left hand.

Much to the looters' shock, a smirk rose on the face of each woman. They dropped their bags and purses and quickly went forth and attacked the looters. Bessie let out a hard swift kick to the lead looter in between the legs and let out a hard punch to his face.

Erica slapped one of them in the face and then punched him in the face with her other hand. Being close to Modern Businessman, she grabbed the man by his head, as his hood had come off and drove him right to the glass window near the entrance of that store.

Meanwhile, Rosa gave the other looter the "come on" signal to the looter, who got out his homemade taser weapon. She backed to where that car was parked. The guy looked like he wanted to shock her, but Rosa thought ahead and delivered a hard kick to the man's gut, as she had kicked off her high-heel shoes. She picked up the hacker weapon and shocked the looter right on his neck. The man was a bit incapacitated, but she wasn't done. They were close to the car. The man didn't seem that big, so she dragged him close to the passenger's side and opened the door with the looter's head right in there and closed the door right on his head. Not once, but twice.

Bessie and Erica looked on with looks of intrigue and shock mixed together. Was it because they didn't think she would go that far? Or was it because of the way she handled herself? They knew she was tough enough to fare in that kind of situation, but that seemed a little more than just trying to defend herself.

"Wow," Erica said.

"It was nothing," Rosa said. "Let's go shopping."

Erica led the way to get upstairs of the Royal Flush Plaza. It turned out the place was Kathy's Space. It seemed that there was quite a selection for these three ladies to choose from and like before, they left money on the counter like they did at Brand New U. They didn't even bother to grasp the idea that any employees for those stores were never going to put it in the registers or the money won't even go to the stores or the companies behind the clothes, but hey, the clothes were still paid for.

At some point, a man came right by. He talked to them about heading to a safe house. They said that they would follow them as long as he would carry their newly-purchased clothes. The man agreed and they were off.

It was crazy that they all did this in the middle of a zombie outbreak, but they made it to safety, regardless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I basically wrote what these ladies had gone through before Chuck finds them. FYI, you could talk to Bessie, Rosa, or Erica and they all have dialogue for each of them and they would follow. I decided not to include because each of the dialogue was different.
> 
> I also wanted to do a bit with them dealing with the looters. If anything, they were quite the contrast to the looters as they decided to not only go on a shopping spree, but also pay for their clothes. Whereas the looters were likely jacking stuff from stores and from survivors, maybe even people who had turned into zombies. Personally, I found the looters in Off the Record to be more annoying as they became more aggressive. Don't get me started on when they use the hacker to take money from you.
> 
> I also want to do another psychopath soon. Not just for this but also for my Dead Rising 1 anthology, "Tales of the Survivors of Willamette." Being that I am considering doing a Dead Rising 3 version, I think I will do psychopaths for that one as well. Stay tuned.


End file.
